Affiliations: School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences,
Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), Bangladesh | 1Social and Behavioural Sciences Unit, Public Health
Sciences Division International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research,
Bangladesh | 2Disaster and Development Centre (DDC), School of
Applied Sciences Northumbria University, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The leading cause of health problems associated with environmental
disasters in Bangladesh is water. The relationship between health and disaster
is a well-discussed issue. However, health outcomes due to water use during and
after environmental disasters are a context specific experience influenced by
socio-political and economic factors. Although, the concept of social
determinants of health are acknowledged, people's perception of
relations between health and natural disaster are not documented yet, also
being a function of complex socio-cultural processes. In the absence of such
knowledge, this paper aims to examine some of the cultural dimensions of
natural disasters and their impacts on health. Three disaster prone rural areas
specifically relating to flood, drought, and cyclones in the country were
chosen for data collection. It is suggested that health impacts on disasters
and disaster impacts on health vary between rich and poor, male and female,
dependent on the nature of the disaster event. Participants related disaster
information with water supply, infrastructure and with illness. The study also
shows the various health impacts of disasters on coping mechanisms. For
example, people cope with disaster impacts through migration, changes in
occupation, low consumption of food, taking loans, surviving on relief, and
these mediate health risks. Borrowing food from relatives, neighbours, or
shop-keepers is another strategy for disaster victims. The study includes some
significant documentation of existing indigenous knowledge and views on this topic.
