Coastal Bangladesh: ‘Human Appeal’ helps reduce child and maternal mortality by half
Human Appeal, a humanitarian aid charity based in Greater Manchester, is celebrating the end of a two-year maternal and child health project that the organization conducted in Satkhira, a coastal area of Bangladesh. The project helped to reduce infant and child mortality by 50 per cent.
The Satkhira Sadar coastal region is particularly prone to natural disasters, with poor access to clean drinking water and high food insecurity. It is also an area below the national average for literacy rate and income, with poor access to health facilities and health professionals.
Child mortality and deaths in childbirth in Satkhira is disastrously high. More than 60 per cent of the mothers in the district give birth to low weight babies – which is a baby that weighs less than 5 pounds 8 ounces.
Ultimately, changing behavior creates an impact that will stay long-term, and hopefully this will spread throughout Bangladesh, they say.