Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Slums that have poor sanitation, inadequate nutrition, and a lack of basic medical treatment are common in many developing countries, which results in a higher disease rate. This paper aimed to assess the sanitation and health status of urban slum dwellers in selected coastal slums in Bangladesh. A total of 113 randomly selected households were interviewed for the survey. This study revealed that the slum people were not fully aware of their hygiene in terms of types of latrine use. The most concerning thing is that still about 2.6 percent of the studied households have been using hanging latrines. In addition, most of the households have been using shared latrines. Furthermore, the status of the functional and operational elements of the latrine was very poor. Roughly 94.7% of homes dispose of human waste by either disposing of it in open pits or by connecting pipes to adjacent rivers, lakes, or other bodies of water. About 47.1% of slum dwellers suffered from diarrhea last year. Diarrhea and other diseases impacted their profession (35.6%), education (27.6%), household work (25.8%), and so on. On average, each household spent more than 1000 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) for their treatment purposes and an additional 1000 BDT for indirect costs (due to joblessness or hampered business). This study suggested that government and non-government organizations should come forward to take immediate actions to improve sanitation facilities and hygienic behaviors in these slums.

Keywords: coastal, health, hygiene, sanitation, urban poor, slum