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. 2019 Mar 15;14(3):e0211875.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211875. eCollection 2019.

Trends and future of maternal and child health in Bangladesh

Sultana Rajia  1 , Md Sabiruzzaman  1 , Md Kamrul Islam  1 , Md Golam Hossain  1 , Pete E Lestrel  2
Affiliations

Trends and future of maternal and child health in Bangladesh

Sultana Rajia et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Maternal and child health is one of the most important issues in a developing country like Bangladesh. This study evaluates the trends in maternal and child health indicators of Bangladesh.

Methods: The secondary data used in this study was extracted from the World Bank Dataset. The selected indicators were maternal mortality ratio (MMR), under-five children mortality and neonatal mortality rate, and prevalence of stunting and wasting of under-five children. Trend analysis technique and ARIMA forecasting models were used in this study to find currents trend and predict the future of selected indicators.

Results: This study revealed clear evidence that neonatal, under-five child and maternal mortality in Bangladesh had been gradually decreasing during the last two and half decades. The decreasing rate of these indicators suggests that it should be possible to achieve the national target of sustainable development goals (SDGs) of Bangladesh by 2021. While, it was observed that the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting among under-five children was still high, these indicators have been slowly decreasing over time. The decreasing rate of these indicators displayed that without guided measures, the Bangladesh government would not be able to achieve the target goal of child malnutrition by 2021 under SDG-2.2.

Conclusion: It is recommended that the government, as well as non-government health organizations (NGOs), and other policy makers should provide programs that are effective so that the national target goals can be achieved by the year 2030. Consequently, our findings should assist in the achievement of the national goals in Bangladesh regarding these health issues.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in Bangladesh.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Residual diagnosis of model for maternal mortality ratio in Bangladesh.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Mortality rate under five children in Bangladesh.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Residual diagnosis of model for mortality rate under five children in Bangladesh.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Neonatal mortality rate in Bangladesh.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Residual diagnosis of model for neonatal mortality rate in Bangladesh.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Prevalence of stunting, height for age (% of children under 5) in Bangladesh.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Residual diagnosis of model for prevalence of stunting in Bangladesh.
Fig 9
Fig 9. Prevalence of wasting, weight for height (% of children under 5) in Bangladesh.
Fig 10
Fig 10. Forecast of prevalence of wasting (% of children under 5) in Bangladesh.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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