Socio-economic and Gender aspects of Arsenicosis - A Case Study in Rural West Bengal (India).

Abstract

With an aim to study the impacts of social as well as demographic factors of arsenicosis, a total number of 200 respondents have been interviewed on the basis of a structured questionnaire in arsenic affected rural areas under Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Using Logistic regression model it has been observed that respondents' income, age, gender and education play a significant role in augmenting or lowering this risk. The most significant finding of this study is that the worst affected of the arsenic-related disease is the poor male working groups mainly belong to agricultural activities. There exists significant poverty and gender related differences in access to health care for arsenicosis. Gender discrimination was also reflected through expenditure on medical treatment. The findings of this study may help the policymakers and planners at the national level to determine the target population for prevention and treatment in public health programmes.