The physical health condition of 56.5 per cent of Rana Plaza survivors is getting worse, which was 14 per cent last year, according to the latest study.
The survey conducted by ActionAid Bangladesh also stated that out of the 56.5 per cent, who reported that their physical health condition is declining in the current survey listed waist pain, headache, pain in hand and leg, and back pain as some of the major problems.
The trend of previous surveys shows that the physical health status of the survivors was slowly improving but due to Covid-19 their suffering got worse.
It is also revealed that 33 per cent are more or less stable, and 10.5 per cent are completely stable.
In terms of psychosocial health, 48.5 per cent are still in trauma in comparison to 12.5 per cent of survivors last year, as per the study.
Currently, 31 per cent reported that they are more or less stable, while some 20.5 per cent have recovered fully compared to 25.5 per cent last year.
These findings were revealed in a survey conducted among 200 survivors ahead of the 9th year of the Rana Plaza tragedy.
The current unemployment rate of the survivors is 53 per cent while 47 per cent of survivors are engaged in various types of wage and self-employment.
Among them, 67 per cent of survivors are unemployed due to bad physical condition and 10 per cent have mental trauma.
Survivors tend to change work frequently as their physical conditions do not allow them to work for long periods at a time, as per the survey.
According to the survey, 14.5 per cent of survivors have returned to garments with another 8 per cent involved in tailoring while many of the survivors shifted to other professions like domestic work, day labour, farming, agriculture, sales, and driving.
The survey found that the income of most of the employed survivors has drastically decreased due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some 63.5 per cent of survivors said they had difficulty buying food for their family every day during the pandemic because they did not have the money to buy food.
About 51.5 per cent said they couldn't pay their rent, and 22.5 per cent said they couldn't afford childcare.
Some 46.5 per cent of survivors had to take out a loan to manage their family's food and other belongings during the pandemic.
A total of 36 per cent said their household income is less than Tk 5,000 while nearly 34 per cent have a household income between Tk 10,000- Tk 15,000.
Around 35 per cent of survivors reported that their expenditure is over Tk 10,000 BDT and nearly 30 per cent have above Tk 15000 with major costs incurred for food, followed by house rent, children’s education, and treatment, the study added.
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