High salinity causing serious health hazards to coastal women

Gulam Rabbani, back from Shyamnagar, Satkhira :
Women of the south-western areas of the country are facing serious health hazards due to use of excessive saline water in daily life. Women and adolescents there are suffering from irregular menstruation, urinary tract infection (inflammation), skin diseases, itching, wounds, premature birth or miscarriage.
The situation is dire in Shyamnagar upazila under Satkhira district and in Koyra upazila under Khulna district. Climate change has forced the locals of these two upazilas to use high saline water, as fresh water is not readily available there.
Selina Khatun, a 23-year old woman, lives in Sora village at Ramjannagar union of Shyamnagar upazila. She said the lack of fresh water forced her and most girls of her village to wash their menstrual clothes with salt water, which causes various diseases in the uterus.

Maryam Akhtar, 35, a resident of the same village, said they have to collect water for drinking, cooking and washing clothes from a long distance, which is a burden. The workload has caused her to face health complications like heavy bleeding during menstruation and chronic waist pain. She suffers from palpitation and her exposure to saline water during washing and bathing has caused scabies in her skin.
This is the daily routine for thousands of people of Ramjannagar and many other unions in the coastal districts in the southwest Bangladesh.

According to the locals, scopes of livelihood have been declining day by day due to increasing salinity in the areas. Scarcity and lack of alternative occupation are forcing the women here to extract shrimps from rivers and canals. As a result women there are more affected by salinity.
Seeing a doctor is a luxury to locals as Shyamnagar Sadar Hospital is not very accessible to all of them. Most of the time, their health issues remain ignored, unnoticed and unresolved.
However, some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are working to address the water crisis and health hazards in the areas. Social purpose organization Friendship is one of them. They have set up a ‘Friendship Hospital’ in Shyamnagar upazila, which is providing health care at a very low cost.

Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Dr Md Muzahidul Haque, Director of the Friendship Hospital, said, “It is proven that skin diseases, urinary tract infections have been increased due to salinity. When a woman becomes pregnant, the effect of salinity becomes evident in the body. Then she may suffer from high blood pressure, convulsions or eclampsia. This can lead to miscarriage or premature delivery.”
Dr Ziaur Rahman, Shyamnagar Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer, said, “Fresh water is scarce in this region. Local residents have no way to use fresh water apart from saline water in their daily life. As a result, they are suffering from urinary infections and skin diseases.”

Rights activist and also the founder of Friendship Runa Khan said, “We have started working in coastal saline areas since 2008 after cyclone Sidr’s hit. We observed that the local residents involved in crab, shrimp or other farming did not own it. The families of these farmers do not get the opportunity to go to the city for better treatment or health services. They don’t have that money. Then we established Friendship Hospital at Shyamnagar to provide affordable and advanced health care in remote areas.”