COMPARATIVE IMPACT OF DAIRY FARMING ON THE HEALTH STATUS OF DAIRY FARMERS AND NON FARMERS OF LAHORE

摘要

Pakistan is an agriculture country and most of its economy depends on this sector. The contribution of agriculture in the GDP is 21% and that of livestock sector is 11.7%. Livestock is the major contributor subsector of agriculture. Farmer’s health is a major issue in Pakistan. Very few studies focused on this issue and no study found to estimate disease trend among farmers and non-farmers. Purpose of study is the estimation of disease trend among farm workers and non-farm workers, so that health policies can be given accordingly. The data was collected by using a validated and pretested questionnaire. Interviews were taken according to questionnaire. Data was analyzed through SPSS. Chi square test was applied. Cross tabulation was done to check association. Results Most of the respondents were illiterate (41.6%), married (77.1%), male (90%) and above age 36 years (40.3%). Most of the respondents were resident of semi urban areas (44.2%). Obesity is more common among farmers than non-farmers. Farm workers claimed more injuries, musculoskeletal disorders, skin infections, depression as compared with non-farm workers. But the occurrence of asthma is more frequent among non-farmers. The poor literacy rate, lack of knowledge about health parameters, ignorant behavior are more common reasons of farmers to have a different disease trend compared with non-farmers.