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Assessment of Willingness to Pay for Pollution Prevention, Health and Happiness: A Case Study of Punjab, Pakistan.

ABSTRACT: Air pollution has been notoriously held accountable for a substantial number of deaths in several countries. Moreover, its negative impact on people's health and well-being has also been witnessed in countries where air pollution is below the recommended national levels. The urban cities of Pakistan are among the worst South Asian areas in terms of air pollution. Because of this problem, the health and well-being of citizens are affected. The present study investigates the impact of air pollution on urban residents' happiness and health. It analyzes their willingness to pay for pollution prevention and its determinants by employing the data obtained through a primary survey. Pakistanis are unaware of air pollution's effect on health and quality of life, therefore only 12.5% consider this problem very serious. The results confirm the significantly negative effect of air pollution on happiness. Concerning the willingness to pay, it is differentiated in the form of tax and social contribution. Pakistanis are willing to pay more in social contribution in return for different environmental attributes. The results show that only 13% of respondents are not willing to pay for income contribution to improve air quality reporting indifferent attitude and insufficient knowledge of the environment. Our findings suggest that their apprehension concerning the environment influences people's willingness to pay. The study concludes that despite Pakistan's underdeveloped economic stature and its poor and flexible budgetary allocation for the betterment of air quality, most Pakistanis showed their willingness to pay for environmental protection. The government and environmental organizations ought to generate consensus among the general population about environmental importance, individual responsibility, and social duties thereby lessening the free-rider problem and reducing air pollution for better social welfare.

SUBMITTER: Rafique MZ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9251188 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background and objectivesPractice-based research (PBR) is of pivotal importance for hospital pharmacists which not only up-grades the profession but also improves the patient care. This study aimed to evaluate the attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to PBR among hospital pharmacists in Pakistan.MethodsA descriptive, cross sectional study design was employed. Data were collected between 1st December, 2017 and 1st March, 2018 from 130 hospital pharmacists employed in 41 hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. A survey instrument comprising of six sections was designed to determine the attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to PBR. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 21.0, Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). The normality of the data was determined through Shapiro-Wilks and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Independent Samples Mann-Whitney U Test and Independent Samples Kruskal-Wallis Test were carried out to test if there were differences among the characteristics of the hospital pharmacists. Logistic regression analysis was used to figure out the factors associated with attitude, perceptions, willingness and motivation towards PBR. A p-value <0.05 was used for statistical significance of differences.ResultsA total of 141 pharmacists were approached. Among them, 130 responded to the survey (response rate 92%). Out of a maximum score i.e., 5 (100%) the respondents obtained a median score of 4 (IQR = 0) for attitude, perception and motivation towards PBR; whereas, a median score of 4 (IQR = 1) was obtained for willingness thus demonstrating fair positive attitude, good perceptions, increased motivation and willingness towards PBR. The most common barrier limiting the pharmacists' participation in PBR was lack of time (23.8%) followed by lack of incentives (16.2%) and lack of support (14.6%). Results of the logistic regression analysis revealed that hospital pharmacists practicing in the inpatient settings had 4.56 times more positive attitude towards PBR (OR = 4.56, 95%CI = 1.07─19.42, p-value = 0.040) as compared to those practicing in the outpatient settings. The male hospital pharmacists (OR = 8.86, 95%CI = 1.15-53.74, p-value = 0.017), those practicing in the outpatient (OR = 23.51, 95%CI = 2.04─271.53, p-value = 0.011) and inpatient settings had increased motivation towards PBR (OR = 12.24, 95%CI = 1.61─94.66, p-value = 0.016).ConclusionDespite the presence of several barriers, the respondents had fair positive attitude, good perceptions, increased motivation and willingness towards PBR which is a promising finding.

Project description:BackgroundMany low and middle-income countries are increasingly cognisant of the need to offer financial protection to its citizens through pre-payment schemes in order to curb high out of pocket expenditure and catastrophic spending on healthcare. However, there is limited rigorous contextual evidence to make decisions regarding optimal design of such schemes. This study assesses the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the recently introduced state contributory health insurance scheme (SHIS) in Nigeria.MethodsThe study took place in 6 local government areas in Kaduna state, North-west Nigeria. Data were collected from a household survey using a three-stage cluster sampling approach, with each household having the same probability of being selected. Interviews were conducted with 4000 individuals in 1020 households. Contingent valuation was used to elicit the willing to pay (WTP) for the household using the bidding game technique. The relationship between socioeconomic status and WTP was also examined using logistic regression models.FindingsAbout 82% of the household heads were willing to pay insurance premiums for their households, which came to an average of 513 Naira (1.68 USD) per month per person. The average amount individuals were willing to pay was lower in rural areas (611 Naira) compared to urban areas (463 Naira). These results were influenced by household size, level of education, occupation and household income. In addition, only 65% of the households had the ability to pay the average premium.ConclusionSocioeconomic factors influence individuals' WTP for contributory health insurance schemes. It is important to create awareness about the benefits of the insurance scheme, especially in rural areas, and in both the formal and informal sectors in Nigeria. WTP information can inform the amount of insurance premiums. However, it is important to consider differences between the WTP and the cost of benefits package to be offered, as the premium amount may need to be subsidized with public financing.

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Assessment of Willingness to Pay for Pollution Prevention, Health and Happiness: A Case Study of Punjab, Pakistan.

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