Rural Health in Bangladesh
Introduction:
Health is a fundamental need that improves the quality of life of people. Bangladesh is an underdeveloped country of villages, more than 80% so its total population lives in villages. Hence the question of rural health is a vital matter for us. The development of rural health is an important factor in the overall development of our country. If we want to see a healthy Bangladesh we should take all the necessary steps for the development of rural health. National economic and social development largely depends on the status of a country’s health facilities of people.
Primitive Medicare in the villages: Once the village people were healthy and happy. There was no pressure of population and no serious want of food and nutrition in the country. Fish, Milk, meat, and other protein diets were in abundance in the villages. The villagers hardly cared for organizing medicare in a systematic way. ‘Ayurved’ and ‘Yunani’ where two important systems of treatment in the villagers. The villagers had little knowledge of the modern medical system. ‘Ojhas’ and ‘Vaidyas’ in general and ‘Munshis’ in the Muslim community treated the patients by uttering incantation or by prescribing talisman and quack remedies or by reciting verse form the Holly Quran.
The present state of health care in Bangladesh: In recent years there has been considerable progress in the field of healthcare in Bangladesh. Yet the present arrangements for health care are not quite adequate for our purpose. In villages, the condition is worse. In many villages, there are no good doctors or even any doctor at all. There is only one qualified doctor for every 25,000 village people on the average. Some people have never seen a doctor. Most of our people do not have any knowledge about health care.
Various kinds of diseases of rural people: Illiterate people of our rural areas are not aware of the importance of the rules of health and sanitation. They respond to the call of nature and throw dead animals in the open field. All these are responsible for many discuss. They take impure water from ponds, rivers, and canals. They are, therefore, attacked with water-borne diseases like cholera, diarrhea, and dysentery. They inhale the unclean and polluted air. As a result, they get contaminated with the germs of air-borne diseases. Many of them do not keep their teeth, finger, nails, and bodies clean.
A measure of uplift of rural health: Our government is fully conscious of the basic problems of the health and sanitation of our villages. They have set up health complexes at the thane level. The number of dispensaries and health centers has been increased. For supplying pure drinking water to the people a good number of tube wells have been sunk in all parts of the country. Yet it can be safely said that the healthcare facility in Bangladesh is much less than what we need.
Education essential: The most important point to note is that mass education is the essential pre-requisite for the solution of all these problems. Our government and the educated Section of our people should take the intensive program to educate the rural people. This will help them to be careful about the knowledge and observance of the rules of health, hygiene, and sanitation.
Conclusion: It is the responsibility of a community or the government for improving the health care facilities of its people. We are a free nation. We need healthy manpower for the all-round development of our country. Without healthy manpower, the dream of a happy and prosperous Bangladesh cannot be put into reality. The government of Bangladesh incessantly attempts to improve the service quality of the rural health care system of Bangladesh.
