The hygienic sanitation use rate in Bangladesh has increased dramatically over the last decade to 97% from just 33% in 2003, according to Local Government Department (LGD) data.
The improvement in the rate was revealed at the inaugural session of the two-day 7th Inter Country Working Group (ICWC) meeting of the South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the city yesterday.
Some 57% of Bangladeshi households use developed sanitation, another 28% use both developed and backward practices and 12% are backward sanitation users, discussants told the meeting.
The majority of people practising open defecation live in South Asia. In Bangladesh the number of people practising open defecation has decreased significantly to just 3%.
In India and Nepal open defecation levels had decreased only among richer households, discussants said.
The degree of disparity between countries varied greatly from country to country. For example, Bhutan has a 44-point differential with Bangladesh compared to the Maldives and Sri Lanka which have none.
Economic inequities drive poor practices in South Asia. The poorest households have much lower access to improved sanitation facilities. Open defecation rates are higher for poorer households.
Stamford University Vice-Chancellor Dr Firoze Ahmed, a special guest at the meeting, said: “We have to develop new strategies for the times.”
Manjur Hossain, an LGD senior secretary, called the improved rates a “remarkable achievement.”
“We have a lot of challenges still to face,” he added.
He said the sixth South Asian Conference on Sanitation would be held in Dhaka on January 11, 2016.
Among others, Department of Public Health Engineering Chief Engineer Khaleda Ahsan and Akram Al Hossain, coordinator of the SACOSAN-VI secretariat, addressed the meeting.