FORTYone percent of all improved water sources in Bangladesh are contaminated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, which suggests a high prevalence of fecal contamination. The nation can reduce poverty and boost growth by taking immediate measures to upgrade the quality of water and sanitation, a World Bank report said.
The WB, unveiling the report on “Promising Progress: A Diagnostic of Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Poverty in Bangladesh” in the city on Thursday, said Bangladesh could reduce poverty and accelerate growth faster by taking urgent actions to improve the quality of water and sanitation. The study was conducted in 18 countries, including Bangladesh.
The global money-lending agency also recommended that in this Sustainable Development Goal era, Bangladesh must address the ‘unfinished businesses of increasing water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) coverage and improving the quality of access with a focus on the poor and the bottom 40 percent of the population.
According to media reports, 98 percent of Bangladesh’s population have access to water from technologically improved water sources. But E. coli bacteria was found in 80 percent of private piped-water taps, sampled across the country. Poor water quality and sanitation can hold back the country’s potential because unsafe water and poor sanitation are linked to nutritional disadvantages in early-childhood.
Experts said, the E. coli bacteria can spread from one person to another, usually when an infected person does not wash his or her hands well after a bowel movement. Though most of the bacteria are not harmful, some can cause illness in humans, including diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever and sometimes vomiting. Children and older people have a higher risk of developing serious illness and complications.
Although the government has taken initiatives to address the safe water crisis, it lacks proper planning, implementation and monitoring. Consequently, over the years it had little success in effectively addressing the growing burden of water-related diseases. Now it is imperative that the government should critically assess the problem to upgrade the quality of drinking and sanitation.
