| dc.description.abstract | Background:
The agricultural practice of tobacco farming succeeds in tropical to subtropical areas to produce items including cigarettes, cigars, and snuff. Tobacco operations have a significant economic impact that totals two trillion dollars, while annual deaths from smoking eliminate half of tobacco-dependent users. The expansion of tobacco cultivation began in Bangladesh during the 1960s by driving away food-producing crops and creating multiple severe harm pathways for health, the environment, and the economy. Nearby communities that include pregnant women and children suffer from pesticide exposure and nicotine, which results in respiratory problems, skin diseases, and Green Tobacco Sickness. The harmful methods of tobacco cultivation endanger the achievement of SDG 3 (Health and Well-being) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) through their destructive impact on forests and natural ecosystems. SDG 1 (No Poverty) is negatively impacted since tobacco farmers remain economically unstable because of variable tobacco prices and high production costs. The study explores the association between tobacco farming and health hazards in the village community of Chakaria, Cox's Bazar.
Methodology:
The cross-sectional study with its quantitative research design measured tobacco farming relationships with health risks by using structured questionnaires in the Chakaria villages of Kakara, Pahartoli, and Surajpur. The researchers chose 315 tobacco farmers through simple random sampling as well as snowball sampling methods. Assessment of the accuracy and cultural appropriateness of the questionnaire was done by pretesting it on a few farmers before data collection. The research participants could choose either written or verbal consent and maintained complete freedom to discontinue participation at any time during the study. Face-to-face interviews conducted at households represented the main data collection method to achieve reliability. Data entry occurred in IBM SPSS Statistics version 23 to perform data cleaning functions and check for errors after the conclusion of data collection. The presented data underwent binary logistic regression analysis and univariate and bivariate investigations to assess the link between tobacco cultivation and health status.
Result:
The study findings showed that tobacco cultivation in Chakaria functions as a male-controlled operation where the population of male workers amounts to 89.5%, while most participants fall into the middle age bracket of 35–54 years old. Muslims made up 90.8% of the participants, while 87.3% maintained marital status. More than half of the respondents (53.3%) completed their education up to the secondary level, and higher secondary education was minimal, with only 0.6% participation. Almost three-fourths of the studied households contained 4 to 6 family members, according to survey findings (73.3%), while tobacco cultivation stood as the primary work activity (71.7%), with monthly wages between BDT 6,000 and over BDT 20,000. Nearly every household had dried tobacco leaves located near their residence, based on the results obtained from the study (95.2%). The extensive nature of the workday requires laborers to put in 7-9 hours of daily effort, since 85.7% dedicate this amount of time to their tasks. Additionally, 77.8% handle tobacco leaves by hand, and 23.8% fail to use protective equipment. Only 1% of participants caught on to environmental consequences, while awareness campaign participation fell to 14.9%, and health risk awareness reached 73%. The data showed that 53% of respondents engaged in child labor during tobacco farming activities, therefore creating concerns about children working in dangerous conditions. About 38.4% of farmers experienced respiratory issues, while 31.1% reported headaches as well, and 23.8% developed skin conditions. Medical professionals confirmed that cancer developed in 7.9 percent of cases because of working in tobacco fields. Family members showed high rates of skin diseases (18.4%) and respiratory issues (13.7%), along with headaches (12.4%), as well as cancer occurrence (6.3%) and miscarriages (2.9%). These data suggest tobacco-related toxins affect household members beyond the farmer.
Conclusion:
Tobacco farming in Chakaria presents considerable health dangers, which primarily affect growers and their household members, according to study findings. Research data demonstrates that tobacco cultivation exists mainly as a male sector, which requires heavy labor and disregards protective equipment, while farmers show limited understanding of environmental and health dilemmas. The substantial quantity of respiratory conditions, together with dermatological diseases and cephalic problems among tobacco growers and their extended family members, establishes an immediate necessity for appropriate intervention. Tobacco toxins affecting households, along with child labor, present additional risks to individuals working in tobacco farming fields. The prioritized policies must concentrate on implementing secure farm practices for tobacco growers because they need to educate farmers about potential health risks while creating new sources of income to make tobacco cultivation unnecessary. | en_US |
