Significant improvement in health sector

AS per a global study, Bangladesh has come out as one of 10 countries that have made commendable progress in improving child and maternal health. With child mortality falling significantly from 151 to 53 per 1,000 live births over a two-decade period, we welcome the continued efforts of primary health services in these areas. And it is not just children who have benefitted from better quality services; maternal mortality rates have also dropped markedly by 66 per cent over the same period. Better immunisation on a national scale has positively impacted on the dual trend. One cannot overlook the fact that making services more readily available to the less privileged segments of the population has reaped benefits for the primary health scenario in Bangladesh.With direct interventions in providing more broad-based health services, evidence has emerged that better education for women has contributed to greater awareness amongst mothers, which in turn has helped bring down mortality rates. Women's education having doubled to 80 per cent over the stated period, it is little wonder that conscious mothers have taken steps to uplift the conditions in which newborns were nurtured. What is evident is that each of the countries that has made to the top-ten list on improved healthcare for maternal and children categories, tailored programmes to fit their respective socio-economic conditions. Bangladesh is no exception. We look forward to replication of such success stories in other areas of healthcare in the country.