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Women in Bangladesh - Where Are We Now?  
Primary Investigator
Khadiza Begum
 

P.I. Institution Name


Title


Contact Address
14/15 Motijheel Commercial Area
Dhaka, 1000
Bangladesh

Contact E-mail
cturner@bol-online.com

Contact Telephone
880.2.9552182
 

Secondary Investigators
Conference Sponsor:
Conference Year: 2001
   
The overall health status of women in Bangladesh continues to be unsatisfactory in spite of all the efforts that have been taken to improve it. This paper will address the status of women in Bangladesh from health and health policy perspectives. Increased access to and utilization of cost effective health provision for women and children will be addressed. The profundity of gender disparity will also be considered in the paper. It will be shown that female mortality is higher than that of men. Child mortality is higher amongst girls than boys. The gender gap in educational opportunities will show that women at secondary and higher education demonstrate a higher wastage rate than men. Employment opportunities for women are significantly inferior to those for men. With this in mind the Government of Bangladesh has undertaken measures relating to women's issues in all spheres of life. It considers women's development to be one of the top priorities in order that it can use its potential of rich human resources as an enduring asset. Economically, attempts are being made to integrate women in the development process and to create opportunities for employment and income generation of women. The government also plans to increase the female literacy rate to enable women to participate in various socio-economic activities. The paper will show that the Government of Bangladesh has and continues to improve women and children's health through the Health and Population Sector programme (HPSP) which has identified the essential service provision (ESP). The paper will consider the ways in which the health needs of women and children are being targeted.