A Study on the Determinants of Expenditure Incurred for Agricultural Workers for Illness Related to Health Hazards in Theni District, Tamilnadu

Agricultural work all over the world is hazardous, resulting in a large number of injuries to farmers or even death. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the agricultural sector is one of the most hazardous to health worldwide (ILO, 2000). Olatunji et al. (2013) pointed out that the productivity of farmers is affected by some occupational hazards and health problems such as Malaria, musculoskeletal disorders, farm injuries, yellow fever, Diarrhoea diseases, respiratory diseases and skin disorder (Olatunji SO, 2013). They usually get low wages, conditions of work put an excessive burden on them, and the employment which they irregular. Their income is low, and employment is unequal. Since they possess no skill or training; they have no alternative job opportunities either. Health system in our country is bogged down with some of chronic maladies like inappropriate budgetary allocation and a “top-down” hierarchy with multiple levels of operation which have led to compromise in effectiveness and quality of the services. Out of pocket expenditure becomes a burden for the poor especially when they have to spend vast amounts from their disposable income. The financial burden borne by people with healthcare and their families as a result of their disease depends on their economic status. In the poorest countries, people with health and their families bear almost the whole cost of the medical care they can afford. Besides excess healthcare expenditure, chronic diseases impose great economic burdens in the form of loss of productivity and foregone economic growth.