Fighting arsenic
at the grassroots: experience of BRAC's community awareness initiative in
Bangladesh.
Hadi A.
Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC, Dhaka, Bangladesh. shirsha@bangla.net
The study evaluates the arsenic mitigation project of BRAC in raising awareness
of arsenic poisoning in rural communities in Bangladesh. Data came from selected
project villages in south-western Bangladesh. Comparison villages were also
selected from the same region. A total of 1240 randomly selected adults were
interviewed in May 2000. Findings reveal that the mitigation project played a
significant, positive role in raising awareness of the safe water options, signs
of arsenicosis, mode of transmission and the type of treatment. Testing
tube-well water for arsenic created curiosity, innovation and interest in the
community, and the water treatment plant became a symbol of the arsenic
campaign. The study concludes that the behavioural change aspects of the arsenic
mitigation project have the potential to significantly improve the level of
understanding about arsenic contamination in the traditional communities.
PMID: 12582112