Disparities in Bangladesh district services

Despite the overall good progress made by Bangladesh towards achievement of the millennium development goals, a recent survey by the state-run Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, with UNICEF support, has found "huge disparities" among 64 districts of the South Asian country; particualrly between the best and worst performing districts for education, child health, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation. These key findings were disseminated at a workshop in Dhaka chaired by the Minister for Planning, AK Khander.

While 97.8% of the public has access to "improved source of water", the report indicates that 12.6% of the households' drinking water exceeds Bangladesh standards for arsenic content. When taking arsenic contamination into consideration, access to safe drinking water is reduced to 85.2% of the population, Naim-Ul-Karim reported.