Facing the future.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are working in the field of family planning, supplementing and complementing the national program in specific fields. The Integrated Family Planning, Nutrition and Parasite Control Project, an NGO of Bangladesh, is trying to make direct contributions. This article discusses what its strategies are at the moment and what they must be in the future. Presently it is disseminating knowledge about parasite infection, its deleterious effects, and its prevention. At the moment, however, it is hampered by certain factors. For lack of audiovisual transport facilities, IEC coverage in the rural areas is a problem. Though the cost of personnel has been reduced to the bare minimum, the costs of antihelmintics and transportation are still high. Under the present tight budget and limited resources, therefore, it is difficult to extend coverage to more people. The Project was extended to 3 new areas in 1986 and at the moment covers about 120,000 in its 7 areas. This is small compared with Bangladesh's more than 100 million population. The enhancement of public health consciousness is limited to the people in the project areas and their environs. Given the present constraints, the policy will be to go slow but steady. To create a national awareness, it will be necessary to cover more people and more areas and make more use of publicity media.