Effect of Arsenic Mitigation Program on Practices of the Beneficiaries

The objective of the study was to assess the effect of arsenic mitigation program on practices of the beneficiaries regarding arsenic and related issues. The study was conducted in Bhanga and Matlab upazila under Faridpur and Chandpur districts, respectively with a sample size of 150 arsenic patients. Data were collected by using both qualitative and quantitative methods during January to March 2009. About four-fifths of the patient respondents (78%) showed medium to high changes in their practices regarding arsenic and the concerned issues. The differences of practices of the patient and non-patient respondents between pre and post participation in arsenic mitigation programs were highly significant and positive. It was also observed that education, farm size, organizational participation, contact with the sources of the information, annual family income and annual family expenditure had significant positive relationship with the change in practices of the patient respondents. Among different independent variables, education alone explained 58.00 percent of the total variations regarding practices of the respondents. Massive mass educational program emphasizing visual documentary could be useful in raising awareness towards arsenic mitigation practices among the respondents.