Health Cost of Cotton Pickers: a Case Study

Cotton being an important cash crop in Pakistan consumes the highest amount of pesticides. Consumption of pesticides in Pakistan has increased from 665 metric tones (MT) in 1980 to 90676 MT in 2007. An estimated 700,000 cotton pickers, most of them women and girls, are employed on the 1.6m cotton-growing farms. Women usually complain about headache, nausea, and skin irritations. The present studies held in Vehari district and estimated the health costs of women cotton pickers having exposure to pesticide of PKR 303.20 per season, along with determining impact of PRSP Health Centers on human health. Our health cost function is significantly different from zero as indicated by value of F-Test (73.53). Value of R2 showed that explanatory variables included in the model substantially contributed in dependent variable (health cost).