Arsenic poisoning to buffet GDP, inviting health risks
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
FE Report
Bangladesh faces an estimated US$ 23 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) output loss over the next five decades due to health hazards arising from arsenic poisoning in groundwater, a new United Nations study warned Tuesday.
The study said the arsenic contamination could enter the food chain through its accumulation into rice, thus reducing crop yield.
But important ministers including agriculture minister Begum Matia Chowdhury questioned the UN findings, saying interest-groups are overplaying the arsenic issue.
The UN study, released on the occasion of World Water Day, said that the direct medical costs associated with arsenic contamination would be $0.62 billion over the same period keeping the onslaught of cancer and mild to moderate arsenic-related diseases in view.
"The cost of inaction is really high," said Atiq Rahman, the lead author of the study.
"It suggests that while the costs to the health care system are large, the costs to the economy due to loss in productivity are greater," Mr Rahman, also a top climate scientist, told a dissemination seminar in the city.
"Assuming a constant discount rate of 10 per cent over a 50-year period the present value of output lost was calculated to be $23 billion," said the study titled "Towards an arsenic safe environment in Bangladesh."
In addition to cancers, the study said that arsenic could lead to significantly increased mortality from heart attacks and other cardio-pulmonary diseases.
Matia Chowdhury disputed with the findings that arsenic could transmit into rice, poisoning the entire food chain.
Health minister AFM Ruhal Huq also urged experts not to panic people in the name of awareness of the arsenic threat, saying the government has a plethora of researches on the arsenic contamination in the country.
A survey by state agency Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF has found that 12.6 per cent of drinking water samples collected from 13,423 households around the country do not meet the Bangladesh drinking water standard for vulnerability to arsenic.
This is equivalent to approximately 20 million people still being exposed to excessive quantities of arsenic.
Matia Chowdhury also blasted donors and development agencies for what she called "blind support" for the privatisation of irrigation, which she said is responsible for the near-desertification in some parts of the country.
She said her government's priority is not only for arsenic-free water but also safe drinking water for all.
"Urgent action is needed to re-focus the attention of the nation towards an arsenic safe environment," said Renata Lok Dessallien, UN resident coordinator.
Bangladesh faces an estimated US$ 23 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) output loss over the next five decades due to health hazards arising from arsenic poisoning in groundwater, a new United Nations study warned Tuesday.
The study said the arsenic contamination could enter the food chain through its accumulation into rice, thus reducing crop yield.
But important ministers including agriculture minister Begum Matia Chowdhury questioned the UN findings, saying interest-groups are overplaying the arsenic issue.
The UN study, released on the occasion of World Water Day, said that the direct medical costs associated with arsenic contamination would be $0.62 billion over the same period keeping the onslaught of cancer and mild to moderate arsenic-related diseases in view.
"The cost of inaction is really high," said Atiq Rahman, the lead author of the study.
"It suggests that while the costs to the health care system are large, the costs to the economy due to loss in productivity are greater," Mr Rahman, also a top climate scientist, told a dissemination seminar in the city.
"Assuming a constant discount rate of 10 per cent over a 50-year period the present value of output lost was calculated to be $23 billion," said the study titled "Towards an arsenic safe environment in Bangladesh."
In addition to cancers, the study said that arsenic could lead to significantly increased mortality from heart attacks and other cardio-pulmonary diseases.
Matia Chowdhury disputed with the findings that arsenic could transmit into rice, poisoning the entire food chain.
Health minister AFM Ruhal Huq also urged experts not to panic people in the name of awareness of the arsenic threat, saying the government has a plethora of researches on the arsenic contamination in the country.
A survey by state agency Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF has found that 12.6 per cent of drinking water samples collected from 13,423 households around the country do not meet the Bangladesh drinking water standard for vulnerability to arsenic.
This is equivalent to approximately 20 million people still being exposed to excessive quantities of arsenic.
Matia Chowdhury also blasted donors and development agencies for what she called "blind support" for the privatisation of irrigation, which she said is responsible for the near-desertification in some parts of the country.
She said her government's priority is not only for arsenic-free water but also safe drinking water for all.
"Urgent action is needed to re-focus the attention of the nation towards an arsenic safe environment," said Renata Lok Dessallien, UN resident coordinator.