Inter-lInkages between PoPulatIon DynamIcs anD DeveloPment In ...

• Develop awareness through social mobilisation and stakeholder participation;• Promote universal awareness on danger signs during pregnancy and delivery, delivery planning and emergencypreparedness for pregnant women;• Address needs of women for comprehensive RH services at all hospitals and Upazila Health Complexesoffering comprehensive EmOC;• Promote universal awareness on gender violence and the need for change;• Strengthen present support environment for FP services, including clinical contraception through greaterinvolvement of health care providers; and• Effective functional integration/coordination for specific services between Directorate General of HealthServices and Directorate General of Family Planning.In general, the five priority objectives of the HNPSP include reducing:MMR TFR MalnutritionInfant and under- Burden of tuberculosisfive mortality and other diseasesThe linkages between health and poverty were also taken into account in the HNPSP. Measures proposed toaddress issues that arose are as follows:• Continuing to finance and provide services that preferentially meet the health needs of the poor - targetingservices;• Channeling health services and/or financial entitlements for services towards the poor - targeting people;• Preferential allocation of incremental resources to poor and underserved geographical areas;• Addressing cross-cutting issues, including non-financial barriers to health service use by the poor, focusingon women;• Ensuring participation and representation of the poor in local-level planning and stakeholder consultation;and• Monitoring trends in health inequalities and in benefit incidence and related target setting.In summary, the HNPSP was revised in 2003 to replace the Health and Population Sector Programme (1998-2003). The incorporation of nutrition as a sub-sector in the HNPSP will enhance the inter-linkages betweenthe health, population and nutrition sub-sectors as well as promote a more holistic approach for addressinghealth, maternal and infant mortality, high fertility and malnutrition issues. This will result in greater efficiencyin resource—personnel, facilities and funds—utilization and synergistic response.2. Micro-creditBangladesh is well-known as a global centre of excellence for micro-finance and considered as one of thelargest borrower of micro-credit in the world. Apart from playing a major role in contributing to povertyreduction and economic development, it also brings about positive social impacts to the beneficiaries, interms of better living conditions, access to basic services, health, education, and assets. The direct beneficiariesare the 16 million active borrowers, including primarily women and about 70% of the poor households. Forwomen participants, besides increased household income, they are also more empowered, in terms of mobility,awareness, household decision-making, and decision to spend money.Major challenges in this sector are:• High interest rates;• Vicious cycle of micro-credit—the poor are borrowing from one micro-credit organisation to repay theother;• Micro-credit programmes are not very successful in including the hardcore poor;• Rate of graduation to above poverty line among the borrowers is low;• Women bear the increased burden of repayment as they are the major borrowers;• Competition between micro-credit organisations plus pressuring potential clients to borrow despite themnot having concrete ideas on how to invest the money; and• Profitability of micro enterprises is small and not able to sustain on a long-term basis.24