Post-Disaster Health Condition: The Case of Coastal Population from Bangladesh

Md. Fozla Rabbi¹, Iffat Ara², Mst. Rupali Akhtar³, Rafia Akter⁴, Arook Toppo⁵, Shobhan Das⁶, Runa Islam⁷ and Akib Javed^8,

¹Department of Anthropology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

²Department of Environmental Science and Geography, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh

³Department of Political Science, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

⁴Department Management Studies, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Bangladesh

⁵Institute of Environmental Science, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

⁶Department of Pharmacology, Bangladesh Agriculture University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

⁷Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

⁸State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

Cite this paper:
Md. Fozla Rabbi, Iffat Ara, Mst. Rupali Akhtar, Rafia Akter, Arook Toppo, Shobhan Das, Runa Islam and Akib Javed. Post-Disaster Health Condition: The Case of Coastal Population from Bangladesh. Journal of Sociology and Anthropology. 2019; 3(2):59-64. doi: 10.12691/jsa-3-2-3

Abstract

The study aims to know the post-disaster health condition of coastal people in Bangladesh. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the collection of data for the study. It is found that a number of the respondents entirely depended on the old age allowance provided by the government. In most affected areas, there was limited rice production since those lands were intensively used for shrimp farming before the cyclone. Majority of the households identified tube wells as the primary water source of water (Koyra 76.82%, and Shyamnagar 85.14%). Study on sanitation practices found insufficient and varying. In both Upazilas, almost half of the households are deprived of regular waste disposal measures (Koyra 59.7%, and Shyam nagar 51.8%). In the same way, they are not aware of waste disposal system and have no plan for it. Health aides have been commonly known as health service providers of public health services in the study areas. Govt. district hospital, upazila health complex and the union health centers were found popular among the respondents. Most respondents were able to remember the messages of the need to wash their hands before eating food (68.75%) and the need to wash their hands after defecation (60.60%). The present study identified that the lack of consciousness about the health and sanitation system and the different types of diseases associated with undernourishment attacked the ordinary people.

Keywords:
disaster health coastal people Bangladesh

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