Although there has been considerable improvement in the health indicators, still more than 60% of the population has very little access to basic healthcare (MOHFW 2003). The number of qualified physicians and nurses in Bangladesh is quite low, compared to other low-income counties (Cockcroft et al. 2004). Around 26% of professional posts in rural areas remain vacant (Chaudhury and Hanner 2003). Despite modestly declining poverty and inadequate health services, Bangladesh has achieved substantial gains in the field of health in the three decades since independence in the ‘70s (GoB 2004; Mahmud 2004), as evidenced in mortality and fertility declines in this low income country compared to other South Asian.
