Bangladesh
Bangladesh has a very agricultural economy. This would include farming in mostly rice and jute. Unfortunately, the natural disasters hit the country hard and often. Issues like flooding and cyclones are frequent and can ruin a lot of their crops if not all of them. With nearly 60% of the people working on these farms, when the disasters hit, they are left with little to no work, which in turn makes the country very poor. Over the past few years, the government has made great progress with improving the macroeconomic performance. The economy has been able to better withstand the natural disaster that it is given. (Economic Overview, 2010, p. 62) There is no way that the country can actually prevent most of these disasters so they must find ways of beating them. Some type of walled or indoor farming system could help but then the problem of funding such a project comes into play.
A conflict between Bangladesh and India has come to an end without any violence. There was a small island in the Bengal Bay that the two countries were fighting over, only to have the bay finish the argument for them when the sea levels have now rose enough to, most likely, permanently bury the island under water. Though Bangladesh is relieved this argument is now resolved, scientist are saying by 2050 that the level of the bay may become extremely dangerous to those that live there. It is expected that the water level will rise another meter, putting 20 million people out of their homes. (George, 2010)
Bangladesh has worked very hard to update the laws that involve the environment in which they live. In 1989 they formed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to assist them with this task and in 1992 the national environmental policy was approved. They began to create a plan to take action and it wasn't long until the Environmental Protection Ordinance was in place. The government had put into place a forty-five year plan for improving the Bangladesh environment. (Bangladesh: health and environment, 2007)
With no national food safety, food-borne diseases are a high cause of sickness and death through other the country. This has prompted the government to come up with a plan to help monitor the operations of food safety. The government then introduced the National Housing Policy to help control these issues. (Bangladesh: health and environment, 2007) Another thing that could help these issues is import more of their own food into the country instead of trying to do it them selves This would give them more time to crop and save their crops for export.
Currently they are still working on cleaning up the pollutants from the air caused by vehicles. They are also working on setting a standard use of water and monitoring the water that the Bangladesh people use and consume. The drinking water is still very unhealthy and the cause of a lot of illness in the country. (Bangladesh: health and environment, 2007) With all the work the government has done, in a ten-year span, the safe drinking water has gone up over 50% in urban areas. (Bangladesh: trends in health status, 2007) Some type of filtration system could also be used in urban areas on the sink to cut down on larger filtration systems at the water plants.
With many of the precautions being taken by the government on what the Bangladeshi people eat and drink, the life expectancy has grown to be nearly 8 years longer thus far, with only more room to grow as the children start out in the government regulated programs. The mortality has also decreased in infants 35 per 1000, fewer deaths have been reported per year, however though this has dropped a good amount it is still reported 53 per 1000 are still dying. (Bangladesh: trends in health status, 2007) With the children becoming and staying healthier they can in turn have more energy to go to school and educate themselves on how to give back and help their land.
Of all the illnesses and diseases, nearly 14% of Bangladesh people die from pneumonia each year. Respiratory failure and diarrhea following with close to 7% of each dying with that health issue each year. (Bangladesh: trends in health status, 2007) With the government working on fixing the water and food issues most of these diseases will diminish and there will be a large percent of people back in the work force that weren't even thought to be able to work before.
In conclusion, the country has made gigantic strides in heath reform but has a long way to go. The also must find newer and better ways to fund money for these and more ideas on how to cut back on some if not all of these problems. The more the government steps in and shows the people that these programs can succeed; the more the people will stand behind them in their decisions.
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