The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights aware of the danger of drinking water contaminated by arsenic, they may have few options for safe drinking water, because other sources are too far away or otherwise inconvenient. Since arsenic is colourless, tasteless and odourless and only affects one’s health after a long time, some people drink arsenic-contaminated water simply because of the few alternatives available. 3.3 Right to Health: The right to health termed as ‘medical care’ has been recognized in the constitution of Bangladesh as one of the basic necessities of the citizens. The first ever National Health Policy was introduced in 2000 which contained ambitious targets, considering the ICESCR provisions of 15 goals, 10 policy principles and 32 strategies. This study did not find a gap between the international instrument and the national legal regime but certainly, there are gaps in the practices. In Bangladesh, the public health system does not yet exist as envisaged. Analysis of official statistics represents an unsatisfactory scenario. The doctor-population, doctornurse, nurse-population ratios remain far below the standard level. Though in terms of infrastructural health facilities, Bangladesh is one of the well- resourced countries(CPD, 2001). Though the health sector’s more recent achievement is remarkable, still the health care system has to go far to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Most of the health indicators show low rates of achievement. Failure of governance as mentioned below is responsible for these shortfalls: 50 i. Voice and accountability: Citizens’ voices and demands result in improved state responsiveness, transparency and accountability. In reality, the state in Bangladesh, like many developing countries, is not sufficiently accountable to its citizens, whose voices often remain unheard or are simply too weak to have any influence. Voice and accountability permit communities to be involved in decisions and oversight of health care services. In the field of governance assessment, ‘voice and accountability’ is a key indicator encapsulating a broad range of factors, from freedom of expression and respect for civil liberties to free and fair elections and the just rule of law (RIA, 2007). The people’s voice in Bangladesh is rarely taken into account while making and implementing health policies. Low confidence in government health facilities and their underutilization are caused by weak administration, lack of oversight, and poor accountability (Ahmad, 2000). Failure in enforcing a system of accountability in the health system is weakening governance. ii. Weak Monitoring and Regulatory Framework: The regulatory framework for monitoring health services delivery is weak. There are 45 laws related to various aspects of health such as the Epidemic Disease Act 1897, the Prevention of Malaria Ordinance 1978, laws related to quality of food, quality of drugs etc. According to the Terms of Reference (TOR) of their services the senior officials are given the responsibility of supervising and monitoring the health activities of their respective areas, but they seldom do this (Osman, 2004). The Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), established under the medical and dental Council Act of 1980 is empowered to look after the public interest by maintaining proper standards of services and education. It has the authority to take disciplinary action, including temporary suspension or permanent removal of the practitioner from the register for misconduct like issuing false certificates, disregard of personal responsibility to patients etc. But due to the absence of a monitoring system on the activities of practitioners, it is very difficult to implement, and there is no evidence of a practitioner’s name ever being removed from the register (Jahan and Salehin, 2006). 51