Book Description

This study analyzes the mortality trends and patterns in Bangladesh, and the underlying factors affecting mortality over the last 3 decades. Like many other countries, the mortality transition has also taken place in Bangladesh since the 1950s. In recent years, mortality levels in Bangladesh have improved, although the level is still much higher than in many developing countries. The estimates of the crude death rate from various sources present an overall mortality trend although these measures suffer from different types of accuracy problems. From 1921-1951, the mortality level remained at about 40/1000. It was highly influenced by natural calamities and environmental conditions. The decade after this showed a rapid improvement in mortality; a similar pace of decline also prevailed during 1961-1971. This improvement may be attributed to the various health programs undertaken by the government such as eradication programs for malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid, and cholera. About 50% of the decline resulted from the control of communicable diseases. Malaria and tuberculosis were among the important causes, and dysentery, diarrhea, and gastroenteric diseases, including cholera and typhoid, accounted for about .2 to .3 million deaths per year in the country in the 1950s. In 1962, the government introduced the malaria eradication program, and full control of malaria was achieved by 1977, except for the northern and southern parts of the country. After the decade of 1960-1970, mortality rates were very stable at 12-17/1000. Infant mortality rates from 1911-1983 indicate an overall improvement from 205/1000 in 1911 to 113/1000 in 1983. The rates in recent years appear to vary from 115 to 125, but show some increase for 1981 and 1982. Mortality differentials due to sex of children are very high. Female children of ages older than 1 have a higher risk of mortality than their male counterparts, but for neonatal deaths, the situation is reversed. Objectives in the 2nd 5-year plan 1980-1985 include 1. bridging the rural-urban gap; 2. controlling major communicable diseases; 3. providing health and family planning services in a package; 4. improving the quality and availability of drugs and medicine, and 5. developing and integrating indigenous and homeopathic systems of medicines with the overall health care systems.