Trends and inequity in improved sanitation facility utilisation in Bangladesh: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys

Abstract

Improved sanitation is indispensable to human health. However, lack of access to improved sanitation remains one of the most daunting public health challenges of the twenty-first century in Bangladesh. The aim of the study was to describe the trends in access to improved sanitation facilities following the inequity gap among households in different socioeconomic groups in Bangladesh. Data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017-18 were extracted for this study. Inequity in access to improved sanitation was calculated using rich-poor ratio and concentration index to determine the changes in inequity across the time period. In Bangladesh, the proportion of households with access to improved sanitation increased steadily from 25.4% to 45.4% between 2007 and 2014, but slightly decreased to 44.0% in 2017-18. Age, educational status, marital status of household head, household wealth index, household size, place of residence, division, and survey year were significantly associated with the utilisation of improved sanitation. There is a pro-rich situation, which means that utilisation of improved sanitation was more concentrated among the rich across all survey years (Concentration Index ranges: 0.40 to 0.27). The government and other relevant stakeholders should take initiatives considering inequity among different socioeconomic groups to ensure the use of improved sanitation facilities for all, hence achieving universal health coverage.