The government of Bangladesh is now working for ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation for all. This is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by 2030. However, one of the old problems of our country -- arsenic contamination -- does not seem to have any solution yet. The country's arsenic problem is still the same as it was 20 years ago. It has been reported that around 43,000 people die of arsenic-borne diseases every year in Bangladesh. According to a survey conducted in 2019, 11.4 per cent of our people still drink arsenic-contaminated water. As such, about 20 million people in the country are drinking arsenic-contaminated water.
It is unfortunate that the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) does not have statistics on the number of people drinking arsenic-contaminated water. They are fighting arsenic without any statistics. Areas where people are at the risk of arsenic pollution need to be identified. A proper action plan should also be formulated on how to ensure safe water for those people.
Ashikujaman Syed,
Research Assistant,
Bioinformatics Research Lab,
Center for Research Innovation and Development (CRID),
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com