Professor Dr. Md. Abdul Khalique Barbhuiya
Editor-in-Chief
North East Medical Journal
Introduction: Bangladesh is a country with heavy rainfall in monsoon so surface water is abundant in rainy season but it is scarce in dry season. 97% of the population depends on ground water for drinking purpose. Ground water used for drinking in many areas of Bangladesh has been reported to have contamination by arsenic above the Bangladesh National Standard of 50 parts per billion (ppb). The percentage of contaminated tubewells in villages varies from more than 90% to less than 5%. Population exposed to arsenic in Bangladesh runs into millions, thousands of people are suffering from arsenicosis and many among them have developed cancer and other complications. Arsenic contamination is geological and there is no known control at source and no proven treatment for arsenicosis. Hence the primary option is alternate supply of arsenic safe drinking water. Arsenic (As) related problem has two aspects one is health (Arsenicosis) and another social. The social aspect has not been discussed here. In Bangladesh ‘As’ problem is mostly due to consumption of “As’ through drinking water and may be to some extent through food chain. So prevention of ‘As’ consumption through drinking water is the top priority. The people of our country are at high risk of developing arsenicosis because out of old 64 districts 62 are already affected (WHO 2014) and it has no specific treatment. So, the only way to combat this condition is to aware people to avoid taking arsenic contaminated water. This will require combined effort of Government and the people at risk. Public awareness has major role in arsenic mitigation.