Towards an Arsenic Safe Environment in Bangladesh - Unicef

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INTRODUCTIONIt was thought that Bangladesh had succeeded in offering safe drinkingwater to the vast majority of its population through tube wells with handpumps by the early 1990s. However, during the same decade this success waschallenged by the discovery of widespread arsenic contamination exceedingthe Bangladesh drinking water standard of 50 microgram per liter. Severalscreening campaigns have determined the extent and severity of arseniccontamination. Tens of millions of people were at risk, reducing the safewater coverage of Bangladesh from nearly universal to about 80%. TheGovernment of Bangladesh together with stakeholders have undertaken arange of arsenic mitigation strategies guided by the National Policy forArsenic Mitigation issued in 2004, and the Implementation Plan for ArsenicMitigation. Both the public and the private sectors have made significantprogress towards mitigation.The Government ofBangladesh electedon January 6, 2009committed in itselection manifestothat the arsenicproblem will betackled andmeasures will betaken to ensurethe supply of safedrinking water forall by 2011.However as of 2009 this problem is far from solved, jeopardizing theprogress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Despitemassive efforts to provide safe water supplies in arsenic-affected areas, awater quality survey in 2009 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics andUNICEF has found that 12.6% of drinking water samples collected from13,423 households around the country do not meet the Bangladesh drinkingwater standard for arsenic (Figure 1). This is equivalent to approximately 20million people still being exposed to excessive quantities of arsenic. Recentknowledge of the health threats posed by arsenic, as well as evidence ofarsenic penetration into the food chain make urgent action absolutelyessential. In recognition of the continuing challenge posed by arsenic, thepresent Government of Bangladesh committed in its election manifesto that“the arsenic problem will be tackled and measures will be taken to supplydrinking water for all by 2011.” This document stresses the urgency of thesituation and recommends key actions to be taken to achieve this goal.
Figure 1. NAMIC datadepicting the extent ofarsenic contamination oftube wells based on surveysin 2002 and 2003 (toppanel), and the BangladeshBureau of Statistics (BBS)and UNICEF MultipleIndicator Cluster Surveydata depicting the extent ofarsenic contamination ofhousehold drinking water in2009 (bottom panel).02/03
Page 1: TOWARDS ANARSENIC SAFEENVIRONMENTIN
Page 6 and 7: WHAT HAS BEENDONEAfter the detectio
Page 8 and 9: THE POLICY AND INSTITUTIONALFRAMEWO
Page 10 and 11: EMERGINGTHREATSThough considerable
Page 12 and 13: The primary treatment for arsenic p
Page 14 and 15: FOODSECURITYThe continuous build up
Page 16 and 17: KEYACTIONSSeveral key actions have
Page 18 and 19: CONCLUSIONDuring the 1980s and 1990

Towards an Arsenic Safe Environment in Bangladesh - Unicef

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