Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health

Anwar Islam; Tuhin Biswas

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15

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Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas

Published in European Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 3, Issue 3)

Received: 23 March 2015 Accepted: 10 April 2015 Published: 21 April 2015

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Abstract

The timeline set by the United Nations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) pronounced in the year 2000 is coming to end in 2015. While the United Nations has already came up with a new set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to follow the MDGs, efforts are underway to assess the success and failures of countries in achieving the MDGs. Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in achieving most of the MDGs including those related to maternal and child health. The maternal mortality ratio and the infant mortality rate in Bangladesh declined from 507 and 149 in 1990 to 209 and 53 in 2010 respectively. However, district level review suggests that numerous constraints and challenges confront the health system in sustaining these achievements. Moreover, desegregated data strongly indicate that the progress is even across different regions of the country. Most importantly, significant gaps still persist between the rich and the poor. For example, while the overall IMR is 43 per 1,000 live births among the highest income quintile, the figure is 84 among the lowest income quintile. In other words, Bangladesh must forcefully address regional disparity and rich-poor gap to ensure sustainable and equitable development in all aspects of health. The study identified a few strategic policy directions for this purpose including aggressive pro-poor and sub-national development planning. To ensure availability of and accessibility to primary health care for all, the study strongly argues for the establishment of community clinics throughout the country equipped with skilled midwives and adequate number of community health workers.

Published in	European Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15
Page(s)	63-70
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Millennium Development Goals, Desegregated Data, Community Clinics

References

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[8]	Knippenberg, R., A. Soucat, and W. Vanlerberghe, Marginal Budgeting for Bottlenecks: A tool for performance based planning of health and nutrition services for achieving Millennium Development Goals. World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, 2003.
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[23]	Chen, L.C., M. Rahman, and A. Sarder, Epidemiology and causes of death among children in a rural area of Bangladesh. International journal of epidemiology, 1980. 9(1): p. 25-34.
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APA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. (2015). Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health. European Journal of Preventive Medicine, 3(3), 63-70. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15

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ACS Style

Anwar Islam; Tuhin Biswas. Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health. Eur. J. Prev. Med. 2015, 3(3), 63-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15

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AMA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health. Eur J Prev Med. 2015;3(3):63-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15

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@article{10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15,
  author = {Anwar Islam and Tuhin Biswas},
  title = {Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health},
  journal = {European Journal of Preventive Medicine},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {63-70},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejpm.20150303.15},
  abstract = {The timeline set by the United Nations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) pronounced in the year 2000 is coming to end in 2015. While the United Nations has already came up with a new set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to follow the MDGs, efforts are underway to assess the success and failures of countries in achieving the MDGs. Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in achieving most of the MDGs including those related to maternal and child health. The maternal mortality ratio and the infant mortality rate in Bangladesh declined from 507 and 149 in 1990 to 209 and 53 in 2010 respectively. However, district level review suggests that numerous constraints and challenges confront the health system in sustaining these achievements. Moreover, desegregated data strongly indicate that the progress is even across different regions of the country. Most importantly, significant gaps still persist between the rich and the poor. For example, while the overall IMR is 43 per 1,000 live births among the highest income quintile, the figure is 84 among the lowest income quintile. In other words, Bangladesh must forcefully address regional disparity and rich-poor gap to ensure sustainable and equitable development in all aspects of health. The study identified a few strategic policy directions for this purpose including aggressive pro-poor and sub-national development planning. To ensure availability of and accessibility to primary health care for all, the study strongly argues for the establishment of community clinics throughout the country equipped with skilled midwives and adequate number of community health workers.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health
AU  - Anwar Islam
AU  - Tuhin Biswas
Y1  - 2015/04/21
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15
T2  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
JF  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
JO  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
SP  - 63
EP  - 70
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8230
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15
AB  - The timeline set by the United Nations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) pronounced in the year 2000 is coming to end in 2015. While the United Nations has already came up with a new set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to follow the MDGs, efforts are underway to assess the success and failures of countries in achieving the MDGs. Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in achieving most of the MDGs including those related to maternal and child health. The maternal mortality ratio and the infant mortality rate in Bangladesh declined from 507 and 149 in 1990 to 209 and 53 in 2010 respectively. However, district level review suggests that numerous constraints and challenges confront the health system in sustaining these achievements. Moreover, desegregated data strongly indicate that the progress is even across different regions of the country. Most importantly, significant gaps still persist between the rich and the poor. For example, while the overall IMR is 43 per 1,000 live births among the highest income quintile, the figure is 84 among the lowest income quintile. In other words, Bangladesh must forcefully address regional disparity and rich-poor gap to ensure sustainable and equitable development in all aspects of health. The study identified a few strategic policy directions for this purpose including aggressive pro-poor and sub-national development planning. To ensure availability of and accessibility to primary health care for all, the study strongly argues for the establishment of community clinics throughout the country equipped with skilled midwives and adequate number of community health workers.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Anwar Islam

School of Health Policy and Management, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tuhin Biswas

Department of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. (2015). Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health. European Journal of Preventive Medicine, 3(3), 63-70. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15

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ACS Style

Anwar Islam; Tuhin Biswas. Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health. Eur. J. Prev. Med. 2015, 3(3), 63-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15

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AMA Style

Anwar Islam, Tuhin Biswas. Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health. Eur J Prev Med. 2015;3(3):63-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15,
  author = {Anwar Islam and Tuhin Biswas},
  title = {Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health},
  journal = {European Journal of Preventive Medicine},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {63-70},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejpm.20150303.15},
  abstract = {The timeline set by the United Nations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) pronounced in the year 2000 is coming to end in 2015. While the United Nations has already came up with a new set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to follow the MDGs, efforts are underway to assess the success and failures of countries in achieving the MDGs. Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in achieving most of the MDGs including those related to maternal and child health. The maternal mortality ratio and the infant mortality rate in Bangladesh declined from 507 and 149 in 1990 to 209 and 53 in 2010 respectively. However, district level review suggests that numerous constraints and challenges confront the health system in sustaining these achievements. Moreover, desegregated data strongly indicate that the progress is even across different regions of the country. Most importantly, significant gaps still persist between the rich and the poor. For example, while the overall IMR is 43 per 1,000 live births among the highest income quintile, the figure is 84 among the lowest income quintile. In other words, Bangladesh must forcefully address regional disparity and rich-poor gap to ensure sustainable and equitable development in all aspects of health. The study identified a few strategic policy directions for this purpose including aggressive pro-poor and sub-national development planning. To ensure availability of and accessibility to primary health care for all, the study strongly argues for the establishment of community clinics throughout the country equipped with skilled midwives and adequate number of community health workers.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Bangladesh Health System and the Millennium Development Goals: Strategic Policy Options for Sustained Progress in Maternal and Child Health
AU  - Anwar Islam
AU  - Tuhin Biswas
Y1  - 2015/04/21
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15
T2  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
JF  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
JO  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
SP  - 63
EP  - 70
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8230
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20150303.15
AB  - The timeline set by the United Nations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) pronounced in the year 2000 is coming to end in 2015. While the United Nations has already came up with a new set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to follow the MDGs, efforts are underway to assess the success and failures of countries in achieving the MDGs. Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in achieving most of the MDGs including those related to maternal and child health. The maternal mortality ratio and the infant mortality rate in Bangladesh declined from 507 and 149 in 1990 to 209 and 53 in 2010 respectively. However, district level review suggests that numerous constraints and challenges confront the health system in sustaining these achievements. Moreover, desegregated data strongly indicate that the progress is even across different regions of the country. Most importantly, significant gaps still persist between the rich and the poor. For example, while the overall IMR is 43 per 1,000 live births among the highest income quintile, the figure is 84 among the lowest income quintile. In other words, Bangladesh must forcefully address regional disparity and rich-poor gap to ensure sustainable and equitable development in all aspects of health. The study identified a few strategic policy directions for this purpose including aggressive pro-poor and sub-national development planning. To ensure availability of and accessibility to primary health care for all, the study strongly argues for the establishment of community clinics throughout the country equipped with skilled midwives and adequate number of community health workers.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download