Impact of Arsenic Mitigation Program on Attitude of the Beneficiaries

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the impact of arsenic mitigation program on the attitude of the beneficiaries towards arsenic and its related issues in Bhanga and Matlab Upazila under Faridpur and Chandpur districts, respectively. Quantitative data were collected using a pre-designed interview schedule while qualitative data were collected by using focus group discussion and direct observation methods during January to March 2009. Findings revealed that 55% of the patient respondents encountered medium to high changes in their attitude towards arsenic and the concerned issues. The differences of attitude of the patient and non-patient respondents between pre and post participation in arsenic mitigation programs were positively significant. It was also observed that education, farm size, organizational participation, contact with the sources of the information and annual family income had significant positive relationship with the change in attitude of the patient respondents. Again, education alone explained 69.4 percent of the total variations in attitude of the respondents, whereas contact with the sources of information explained 2.9 percent. It was recommended to arrange functional educational program focusing upon the rural poor to arsenic, sources of arsenic contamination, arsenicosis, arsenic removal measures and arsenic patient and appointment of efficient and enthusiastic health workers by the Public Health and Engineering Department for better result. Keywords: Arsenic; attitude; beneficiaries DOI: 10.3329/agric.v8i2.7575 The Agriculturists 8(2): 35-42 (2010)