The people in rural areas of Bangladesh are experiencing bone-chilling cold for the last few weeks. Winter is a season of festivals whether it is in cities or in the villages. But often in our country, the winter appears as a season of sufferings to the limited income group people, especially the poor, in the rural villages. The sufferings of children and elderly people know no bounds as most of them are affected by cold-related diseases for having less immunity levels than youths. Amid the corona pandemic, these diseases have created a panic among the people. Already, different media outlets have reported that the number of patients with flu, fever and cold-related diseases has been increasing. In particular, children are suffering mostly from respiratory infections, pneumonia, bronchiolitis and diarrhoea while the elderly are coming to hospitals with asthma, bronchitis and acute respiratory infections.
Reports coming from different districts say that the number of paediatric patients in hospitals has doubled since the advent of winter. Although we like to talk about development, people in remote areas do not have adequate healthcare facilities due to lack of hospitals and trained medical staff. The bite of wintry chill is felt more in rural areas – especially in the northern and western regions – of the country because the rural homes are scattered and open to cold breeze. So, the poor and ultra-poor suffer also due to lack of warm clothes to stay protected. Already, they have witnessed a mild to moderate cold wave a few days ago. In Rangpur and Dinajpur divisions, the people are facing tremendous sufferings as they cannot come out of the houses to earn their bread due to severe cold accompanied with thick fog.
Rural people urgently need warm clothes, blankets and quilts to protect from cold and monetary support to buy food as the adverse weather prevents them from earning their bread. A section of rich people and some business entities are distributing warm clothes in the cold wave swept areas. But this is not enough. The administration should intervene in a planned way to extend help to the needy families during the winter months. This calls for mapping of the cold-wave swept areas and preparing a reliable list of families who need winter garments and blankets to protect themselves. Without planned interventions it is not possible to support all needy families during the winter months.
