Sanitation faces its own set of challenges, with only 39% of the population estimated to have had access to adequate sanitation facilities in 2004. This is actually a doubling of the 20% share in 1990. A new approach to improve sanitation coverage in rural areas, the community-led total sanitation concept that has been first introduced in Bangladesh, is credited for having contributed significantly to the increase in sanitation coverage since 2000.[12]
The government has adopted a number of policies to remedy the challenges in the sector, including