Water pollution is behind the recent surge in the number of diarrhoea and cholera patients in Dhaka, Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said.
The minister’s remarks on Thursday while addressing an event in Dhaka to mark the World Health Day.
Environmental pollution is causing an increase in patients afflicted by various diseases, he added.
The health minister’s comments come amid a large number of hospital admissions in the capital due to diarrhoea over the last couple of weeks. Hundreds of diarrhoea patients are rushing to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) every day for treatment.
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At the same event, health directorate chief Dr ABM Khurshid Alam acknowledged the dangers of environmental pollution and its impact on human health.
He said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) wants to reduce the health risks and deaths caused by climate change.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque and Directorate General of Health Services chief Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, among others, are seen at a discussion held on World Health Day, in Dhaka on Thursday, April 7, 2022 CollectedClimate change is one of the major factors causing an increase in non-communicable disease cases in Bangladesh, he added.Meanwhile, due to diarrhoea and cholera being water-borne diseases, residents of Dhaka have raised questions about the quality of water supplied by the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa).
Dhaka Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan at a program on Tuesday dismissed the claims, and said use of Wasa water is unrelated to the surge in diarrhoea cases.
