Living on the Edge: Women’s Health and Healthcare Dynamics in the Slums of Kamrangirchar and Hazaribagh under Dhaka City in Bangladesh

Women’s ill health and health-related vulnerability in urban slums of Dhaka is a significant but ‎largely invisible problem. Despite having access to better healthcare facilities like in the ‎capital, slum women face multiple barriers due to poverty, overpopulation, gender inequality ‎and limited healthcare. Thus, the study was undertaken mainly explore the social and cultural ‎factors behind women’s health problems; assess healthcare providers’ perceptions of women’s ‎health, disease and mortality; and determine structural barriers to women’s health. The study ‎was conducted at Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar slums in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data were ‎collected from 90 respondents through qualitative social autopsy methods, which used in-depth ‎interviews, focus group discussions and participatory observation. The results revealed key ‎obstacles include poverty, illiteracy, delayed decision-making, misconceptions, mistrust of ‎medical institutions, and infrastructural limitations for women’s access to healthcare. A ‎community-based survival model has been proposed which that has focused on education, ‎poverty reduction, awareness, improved facilities, and trust-building. Implementing these ‎measures could reduce preventable deaths and support broader goals of health, equity, and ‎sustainable development.