Why this is important

• Hub research has evidenced that frequent natural disasters in the delta regions of Bangladesh pose challenges to delta dwellers’ health by limiting access to the right healthcare at the right time and exacerbating long-term food insecurity.

• Delta dwellers including children under the age of five years, experience high rates of malnutrition with effects including stunting and wasting.

• Menstrual hygiene practices of adolescent girls and women are hindered due to increased salinity in water, leading to potentially harmful practices including use of contraceptive pills for menstrual suppression. This in turn increases the risk of infections and has long-term negative sexual and reproductive health consequences.

Priorities and steps

Researchers, policymakers, local governments, civil society organizations, and health agencies should work together to: 

• Design and implement community-based nutrition programs which fully engage delta dwellers to promote climate-resilient agriculture to reduce child malnutrition.

• Increase access to affordable hygiene products and promote awareness of safe menstrual practices among adolescent girls and women.

• Liaise with health sector policy makers and delta communities to co-develop and implement interventions aimed at creating a community-level resource pool (i.e. trained community health workers) to enhance the surge capacity of the health system for healthcare provision during and after natural disasters and which caters to the specific needs of women and children.

Want more information?   

Check out our Output pages to access more information about what we do and who we work with via a series of informal blogs and other resources, videos, books and booklets and policy briefs. Here you can also easily access our Hub publications in academic journals as well as a series of mid-project case studies.