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Effect of Tobacco on Socio-economic Condition, Health of Tobacco Processing Workers and Its Impact on Environment

M.A. Muyeed
USG Project, DAE, Khamarbari, Dhaka

M.A. Baten
Department of Environmental Science, BAU, Mymensingh

B.S. Nahar
Center for Environmental Studies, BAU, Mymensingh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The health problems of the workers engaged in tobacco processing activities and the relationship between nine selected characteristics of the workers and their health status were studied. Data were collected from 75 randomly selected workers of 5 bidi making factories under Rangpur district. Through personal interview simple and direct questions with different scales were used to obtain information. Co-efficient of Correlation (r) was computed in order to explore the relationships between dependent and independent variables. Each of the nine selected characteristics of the workers namely age, sex, education, service length, family size, family farm size, annual family income, awareness about health, environmental knowledge constituted independent variables. While the health status of tobacco workers was the dependent variable. After analysis it is found that the extent of health problem is 13.3 % high, 44% medium and 42.7% low. Gastric ulcer and disease were found as highly acute, cough, tooth decay, loss of appetite, cataract problem as moderately acute and other 13 diseases as less acute. The correlation test showed that age, sex, service length, smoking habit, family size, and environmental knowledge had significant relationship; while education, family farm size, annual family income, awareness about health, had no significant relationship with the workers health.

Keywords: Tobacco processing, Health problems , Environmental knowledge

Location: Haragach and Sarai union under Kaunia upazila of Rangpur district

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Tobacco

Objectives:

To find out the extent of health problem of tobacco processing workers in relationship with the socio-economic characteristics.
To identify the environmental problems due to tobacco processing factories.

Methodology:

The study was conducted in Haragach and Sarai union under Kaunia upazila of Rangpur district, where 36000 tobacco processing workers are working in 32 different factories. A total of 75 workers in five different bidi making factories were interviewed in this study. The tobacco processing workers were selected randomly inside of the tobacco factory. The nine selected characteristics were age, sex, education, service length, family size, family farm size, annual family income, awareness about health,environmental knowledge. Health of the tobacco processing workers was selected as dependent variable of the present study. Age of the respondent was measured in terms of years from birth to the time of interview which was found on the basis of response (Azad, 2003). A unit score was assigned for each year of one’s age. This variable appears in item no. 1 in the interview schedule. Sex of the respondent was measured in terms of male and female which is encoding by male=1 and female=2. Education was measured in terms of one’s year of schooling. One score was given for passing each level in an education institution. Service length of the respondent was measured in terms of how long the tobacco processing workers has been working in the factory. The family size was measured by the total number of members in the family of a respondent. A unit score was assigned for each member of the family. Farm size was measured in hectares for each respondent using the following formula of Khan, 2004. Income referred to the total financial return of a household farm and non-farm sources. It was expressed in Taka. In measuring this variable, total earning in taka of a respondent was converted into score. A score of one was given for every 1000 Taka (Waheduzzaman, 2004). Awareness about health and environmental knowledge were measured through 10 and 12 questions respectively. Data were collected by the researcher themselves through personal interviews with workers of the factories. The interview was conducted with the respondents individually of their respectively places. Data were collected during August to September, 2007. Qualitative data were converted to quantitative one whenever necessary. Data obtained from the respondents were first put to a master sheet, then compiled, tabulated and analyzed in accordance with the objectives of the study. Descriptive statistical methods like range, mean, percentage distribution and standard deviation were used in describing the dependent and independent variables. For exploring the relationship between the selected characteristics of the worker with their extent of health problems Pearson’s Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation (r) was used. The analysis of data was performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) computer program. Throughout the study, at least five percent (0.05) level of probability was used.

Source of Information: J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 2(2): 23 -28, 2009 ISSN 1999-7361

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

It is found that the extent of health problem is 13.3 % high, 44% medium and 42.7% low. Gastric ulcer and disease were found as highly acute, cough, tooth decay, loss of appetite, cataract problem as moderately acute and other 13 diseases as less acute. The correlation test showed that age, sex, service length, smoking habit, family size, and environmental knowledge had significant relationship; while education, family farm size, annual family income, awareness about health, had no significant relationship with the workers health.

Knowledge Management: Journal