A crisis that can no longer be ignored
The devastating consequences of salinity on the lives and livelihoods of people in the coastal areas are well known. A recent investigation by The Daily Star has revealed an equally alarming and often-overlooked dimension of this crisis: its brutal toll on women's health. Across Khulna and Satkhira, women are suffering from severe reproductive and skin-related conditions that are altering the course of their lives, ushering in early menopause, forcing hysterectomies, and increasing the risk of cancer. Many endure chronic infections in silence, often left untreated for years due to stigma, poor access to healthcare services, or geographical inaccessibility.
Women engaged in shrimp farming spend hours standing waist-deep in saline water to catch shrimp fry to support their families. They drink salty water, wash and bathe with it, and work in it daily. The results are chronic skin diseases, urinary tract infections, and serious reproductive health complications. This is also supported by recent data. According to a 2024 Journal of Migration and Health study, 64.8 percent of women in Mongla and 53.8 percent in Shyamnagar, Satkhira, reported inflammation or infections of the vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes or ovaries. Nearly one-third struggle to maintain menstrual hygiene. Severe skin problems affect 92 percent of women in Shyamnagar and nearly 70 percent in Mongla.
An icddr,b analysis covering 2012-2017 further showed that women living near the coastline face a 1.3 times higher risk of miscarriage than those in higher-elevation areas. Hypertension, exacerbated by salinity, is quite common, increasing the likelihood of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. Despite these problems, however, successive governments have ignored the crisis of salinity in coastal areas. Unregulated shrimp farming has contaminated soil and water, devastated agricultural land, and made safe drinking water increasingly scarce. The health fallout—especially for women and girls—has now become impossible to overlook.
We urge the authorities to treat this as a public health emergency. While long-term policy reforms, including strict regulation of shrimp farming, are essential, immediate interventions cannot wait. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation must be ensured through investments in rainwater harvesting, desalination technologies, and other measures, prioritising the most affected areas. Health services must also be expanded in remote areas by establishing mobile clinics, deploying more female health workers, and subsidising diagnostic and reproductive health services. Large-scale awareness must be launched on the risks of prolonged saline exposure, the importance of hygiene, and the need to seek timely medical attention. It is equally important that, besides government authorities, political parties too help in addressing salinity as both a development and public health priority in these regions.
