Slum dwellers are worse off than villagers in terms of health

APPROXIMATELY 30 to 45 percent of slum dwellers are ill and 60 percent of their children chronically malnourished. Along with this disquieting finding a study by Bangladesh Health Watch Report, a civil society advocacy and monitoring initiative, also reveals that the health status of people who live in slums is worse than those who live in the villages.

Widespread migration of jobseekers in the city has exponentially increased the urban population. This has led to overcrowding and added pressure on resources. A poor healthcare system, bad sanitation as well as water and environmental pollution have taken a heavy toll on the city's urban poor.

Slum dwellers especially suffer because they live in overcrowded areas which lack access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation. They also cannot afford the food that would meet their nutritional requirements. And when all these factors lead to illness and disease they cannot afford to pay for healthcare which is far from being poor-friendly.

The study has rightly pointed out that the health ministry and local government ministry are responsible for providing health care in urban areas. But gaps in communication and lack of financial and human resources have left the poor and sick, in the lurch.

It is obvious that the growing numbers of urban slum-dwellers require subsidized health insurance and healthy living conditions. For too long successive governments and even non-government organisations have neglected the needs of the urban poor. With a rise in the incidence of diseases due to various kinds of pollution and unhygienic living conditions, the government's primary focus should be to provide affordable healthcare and housing to poor people in the city.