Women's Gain in Health: Contributing Factors in Improving Female Survival in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world where male and female have nearly the same life expectancy at birth. But the circumstance was different until 2002, when female life expectancey (sic) exceeds the male life expectancy for the first time in Bangladesh. The fact that the typical female advantage in life expectancy is not observed in Bangladesh due to systematic problems with women's and child health. The health of women and children is a matter of great concern in Bangladesh. They are relatively disadvantaged in terms of various indicators of health in Bangladesh. Since independence the government of Bangladesh has made considerable efforts in providing health services, especially to mothers and children to improve the overall health situation in Bangladesh. Successive governments particularly in the 1990s, have prioritised and allocated resources to the education and health sectors. These resources have made a positive contribution to improving health. The allocations for health have also been increased from 3 percent in the First Five Year Plan (1973-1978) to 10 percent in the latest Five Year Plan (1997-2002) (GoB, 2001). With a view to reducing the maternal and child mortality and morbidity, comprehensive program efforts have been made over the past years through increasing access to health care services under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW). Maternal and Child Welfare Centres (MCWCs) have been established to provide maternal services at districts level. Integrated Management of Childhood illness (IMCI) has also been established to improve child survival in Bangladesh (Hossain, 2003; DGHS, 2000).