Focus on prevention
Speakers tell policy dialogue on improving urban health organised by PPRC in capital
The local government ought to put emphasis on preventive measures to improve urban health rather than providing direct treatment, speakers told a policy dialogue yesterday.
Preventive measures include providing sanitation and safe drinking water, facilitating open space for physical exercise, controlling mosquito, maintaining proper sewerage system, stopping food adulteration, and waste management, they said at the dialogue styled "How can City Government Improve Urban Health?" in the capital's Local Government Engineering Department's auditorium.
Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) organised the dialogue in association with Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB), supported by WaterAid, with PPRC Executive Chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman in the chair.
"… city corporations and municipalities should come up with innovative initiatives for providing public health service with participation of residents, " said Rahman.
There are ambiguities between the local government and health ministries in sharing responsibilities and providing primary health services, he said, adding that the responsibilities should be well-defined.
Emphasising decentralisation of health service, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, founder of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, said centralised treatment services could not help ensuring improved treatment.
Proper sanitation and safe water supply could prevent many diseases in the country, he added.
"There are many responsibilities within the purview of municipalities under the Local Government (municipality) Act-2009 for providing health service, but no allocation is being made to facilitate it," said Dr Bushra Alam, senior health specialist of World Bank in Dhaka, urging the respective mayors and councillors to raise a united voice for allocating budget to health facilities under the municipalities.
Citing the Urban Health Survey-2013, AMM Nasir Uddin, senior fellow at the PPRC, said 75 percent of urban poor families were living in a single room, 65 percent sharing water sources with 10 or more households, 85 percent using shared latrines, 50 percent dumping garbage in open spaces, while only 13 percent of households have access to improved sanitation.
Dr Md Khairul Islam, country representative of WaterAid Bangladesh, also spoke at the event attended by municipal mayors, councillors and health service providers.