The ICDDR,B has said that it has developed an integrated health programme that was effectively helping pregnant women, adolescent girls and young children living in the country鈥檚 urban slums.
The findings of the 鈥榪uasi-experimental study鈥� as the research work is dubbed, were revealed on Monday at a scientific seminar held at the health research organisation鈥檚 auditorium at Mohakhali as part of its 鈥楢dvancing sexual and reproductive health and rights鈥� dissemination series.
Mustafa Mahfuz, the principal investigator of the research, conducted in the Bauniabadh slum in the capital鈥檚 Mirpur, said that through the 鈥楴utri-CAP: a model for improving nutrition for children, adolescents, and pregnant women in slums of Dhaka city鈥� study, they combined nutrition and hygiene services for the three groups of people.
His keynote presentation highlighted that rapid urbanisation was putting growing pressure on the already strained urban health systems, referring to data that in 1973, country鈥檚 8 per cent population lived in urban areas that rose to 40 per cent in 2022, with 62 million people now living in urban areas and projections indicate that the number could double by 2035.聽
The project adopted a four-pronged approach: pregnant women received monthly home-based counselling; were given nutritional supplements including iron, folic acid, calcium and vitamin D; regular monitoring was held of their weight, blood pressure, haemoglobin and blood sugar; and they were encouraged to attend antenatal care visits and rest adequately, according to the presentation.
The study found that facility-based deliveries and good pregnancy outcomes were more common in the intervention group, while adverse outcomes such as abortion, stillbirth and neonatal death were lower.
The risk of babies being born small for gestational age was reduced by 16 per cent while adolescent girls in the intervention group saw a substantial increase in haemoglobin levels, rising from 12.0 to 12.8g/dL.
For young children, the study recorded significant improvements in growth and gut health.
Mustafa Mahfuz also mentioned that in slum communities, over half of all households faced food insecurity, up to 50 per cent of children were stunted, and only 40 per cent of women received the recommended four or more antenatal check-ups with trained providers鈥攃ompared with over 53 per cent in non-slum areas鈥攚hile more than 30 per cent of slum residents were under 15, highlighting the urgent need for targeted investment in maternal, adolescent, and child health.
Among more than 15,000 married women living in the area, 721 were identified as pregnant during the study period and the programme engaged over 4,200 adolescent girls and nearly 2,500 children below two years of age, he also said.聽
ICDDR,B executive director Tahmeed Ahmed said that the Nutri-CAP model was not only effective but ready to scale in other informal settlements in Bangladesh and similar settings elsewhere in the world.