Firstly, Bangladeshis must be aware of the dangers that their salt and arsenic contaminated drinking water presents. Through social media and the Bangladeshi school system, we can spread the word of the myriad of dangers that salt and arsenic present to people and thus drive them to adopt alternative methods of water collection. Families should also be advised through Bangladesh’s education system to decrease their salt consumption and increase their calcium, potassium, and magnesium intake. Considering 98% of children in Bangladesh are enrolled in primary school,[1] this would also be an effective method to promoting conscious choices in people about the water they are drinking and their sodium intake. By working with the Bangladesh government, we can include these topics in current curriculums so that teachers may be the ones to spread this information to coming generations.
Figure 1: Schoolchildren in Bangladesh
Source: Bangladesh School[2]
References
- (October 2016) “Bangladesh: Ensuring Education for all Bangladeshis” WorldBank. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2016/10/07/ensuring-education-for-all-bangladeshis
- (2013) School Beautiful Moments. Retrieved from http://bangladeshschool.org/