A recent study [1] on rural-urban migration and child survival in urban Bangladesh shows that housing conditions and access to safe drinking water and hygienic toilet facilities are the most critical determinants of child survival in urban areas, even after controlling for migration status. It analyses the levels and trends of childhood mortality in urban Bangladesh, and examines whether children's survival chances are poorer among the urban migrants and urban poor. The study findings indicate that rapid growth of the urban population in recent years due to rural-to-urban migration, coupled with higher risk of mortality among migrant's children, may be considered as one of the major explanations for slower decline in under-five mortality in urban Bangladesh, thus diminishing urban-rural differentials in childhood mortality in Bangladesh. The findings of the study may have important policy implications for urban planning, highlighting the need to target migrant groups and the urban poor within urban areas in the provision of health care services.

[1] Islam, M.M. and Azad, K.M. (2007).Rural-urban migration and child survival in urban Bangladesh: are the urban migrants and poor disadvantaged?. Journal of biosocial science. Published online 19 Jul 2007. DOI: 10.1017/S0021932007002271

Contact: M. Mazharul Islam, Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, mmazhar@agni.com

Tags: sanitation, urban wash, water supply, water-related diseases