Bangladesh Remains Worst Arsenic Affected Region
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DHAKA, Feb 24 (OneWorld) - At an international conference on arsenic contamination in Bangladesh last week, experts revealed that despite a seven-year effort, the country still tops the list of 23 arsenic affected countries with 85 million people exposed to the poison.
Declared Professor Willard Chappel of the University of Colorado, USA, "Bangladesh is the worst in terms of the number of people exposed to contamination. I am sorry to say they have not done enough to mitigate the problem." Some 150 water experts, chemists, biologists, geologists, medical practitioners and soil scientists including 30 foreign scientists attending the three-day fifth international conference stressed that only people's involvement could make the difference. The conference that concluded with a Fifth Dhaka Declaration recommended the involvement of the private sector as well as the victims themselves, who lacked a sense of ownership on choices of arsenic mitigation. The experts also urged the scientists to measure the impact of arsenic contamination in the food chain and food production. The state of West Bengal -- Bangladesh"s closest neighbor in India -- stands as the second most affected region with 42.7 million people exposed to the risk. Studies presented at the conference called "Developing Country's Perspective on Health, Water and Environmental Issues" found arsenic contamination had caused a large number of neurological disorders and a significant rise in spontaneous abortions and stillbirths among pregnant women. For more than 30 years, around 97 percent of the population in Bangladesh has depended on tubewells rather than surface water as a safe water source. There are around 2.5 million tubewells in Bangladesh. Although arsenic mitigation campaigns have encouraged people to switch to surface water again, they prefer using tubewell water that appears clear and harmless. Experts at the conference jointly organized by Dhaka Community Hospital and the School of Environmental Studies of India's Jadavpur University, observed that both government and private sector partners are still grappling for a solution to the problem. Questioned Bangladesh UNICEF Chief, Morten Geirsing, "We are very concerned about the quality of water samples being tested from tubewells by some NGOs. Do the tests really attain minimum standards?" M Amir Hossain of the School of Environmental Studies, pointed out that in the predominantly rural India and Bangladesh, even a highly successful technology could fail minus strong political will and adaptation to the village environment. According to environmentalists, a study of 259 arsenic removal plants in the North 24-Parganas district of the Indian state of West Bengal last year, revealed that 68 percent were virtually useless. The four-year study of similar plants concluded that their performance would improve if there was greater public awareness about them, and they were better maintained and monitored. Emphasized Amir, "We want to say that the elixir of life - water - should be kept free of dishonesty and politics." Professor Mahmudur Rahman, coordinator of Dhaka Community Hospital Trust (DCHT), noted that the government had failed to formulate a concrete policy to address the arsenic problem, with many victims of poisoning failing to get treatment as a result. The Bangladesh government is currently implementing a US $32 million donor-funded scheme to address problems related to arsenic contaminated water through the Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP). The Health Ministry has a separate program to treat arsenic affected people. Project Director Khoda Bux claimed that BAMWSP was not entirely unsuccessful. "We have completed giving safe water options in 189 upazilas (the lowest administrative unit) out of 470. And we will soon enter the next phase to screen more affected tubewells and offer more options to the affected people," says Bux. Bux admitted though that lack of finances and coordination between bureaucrats and people at the grassroots, has prevented the government from tackling the problem adequately. Rather belatedly, Bangladesh's Director General of Health, Professor Mizanur Rahman, remarks that the government will soon be training doctors in rural areas to detect arsenic patients. Admitting there is no protocol for their treatment, Rahman says, "We are expecting a good funding for arsenic patient management soon. Studies show high doses of vitamins like A, B, C, E, Zinc and Sodium can significantly reduce the primary phase of the disease." |
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