The country is presently observing October as the national month of sanitation. Responding to the call of the UN, Bangladesh started observing this month from 2003. The country will also, on the 15th of October, will observe the Global Handwashing Day like every year. To raise people’s awareness about health and hygiene, observance of the sanitation month as well as the handwashing day is very important. Thanks to cumulative effect of various steps including observance of this month and the day, during the last decade, Bangladesh has achieved tremendous success in sanitation coverage. According to statistics, in 2003, 46 per cent people in Bangladesh used to defecate in open spaces; now in 2015 the percentage is only one. Despite this achievement, the reality is only 61 per cent people have developed sanitation system in the country. In the congested and slum areas in the cities and towns the picture in many cases is still deplorable. On the other hand, in the rural areas, achieving hundred per cent sanitation remains a far cry.
The majority of people who still have no access to sanitation are poor and backward people living in the remote areas of the country. For achieving total sanitation, the relevant agencies, both the governmental and non-governmental ones, must address the geographically vulnerable areas such as hill tracts, haors, and coastal, tea garden and Barind region as well as slums in cities and towns. Natural disasters such as floods and cyclones especially make it difficult to sustain sanitation measures in the geographically vulnerable areas. Therefore steps in these areas have to be taken up accordingly.   
The people living in the shanties are particularly vulnerable to many a health hazard, which is mostly caused by the absence of adequate sanitation. This situation has been exacerbated by the existing poor systems of garbage disposal. Against the backdrop of depressing scenario of public health, observance of the sanitation month with particular focus in the rural areas can bring a big change in people's habit of disposing waste, generating awareness among them about the health dangers involved with it. Proper observance of the Global Handwashing Day on 15th October can do a lot in raising people’s awareness in this regard. It is a pity that Bangladesh is still way behind in ensuring safe water for its people. If water is life, sanitation is a way of life. Not just educating people, the government as well as non government entities should provide financial support to the extremely poor people in their efforts to have better sanitation.