Health seeking behaviours among electronic waste workers in Ghana

Abstract

BackgroundElectronic waste workers are prone to various illnesses and injuries from numerous hazards thus the need for them to seek health care. The aim of this study was to describe health-seeking behavior, and social and other factors affecting this behavior, among electronic waste workers at Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana.MethodsIn-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed qualitatively from a grounded theory perspective.ResultsWorkers experienced various kinds of ailments. These included physical injuries, chest and respiratory tract associated symptoms, malaria, headaches, body pains and stomach discomfort. They reported seeking health care from multiple sources, and the main determinants of health seeking behaviour were severity of illness, perceived benefit of treatment, accessibility of service, quality of service, ease of communication with service provider and cost of health care.ConclusionMultiple sources of health care were used by the e-waste workers. As cost was a major barrier to accessing formal health care, most of the workers did not subscribe to health insurance. Since enrollment in health insurance is low amongst the workers, education campaigns on the need to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme would facilitate access to formal health care and could result in improved health outcomes among e-waste workers.

Multiple elemental exposures amongst workers at the Agbogbloshie electronic waste (e-waste) site in Ghana

“…The study by Asante et al (2012) on 20 male workers at Agbogbloshie established that toxic metal exposures occur, though this work was limited by a relatively low sample size, a single biomarker studied, and lack of key socio-demographic and occupational characteristics. Here we build upon the work by Asante et al (2012) as well as previous studies by our team at Agbogbloshie (Wittsiepe et al, 2015; Feldt et al, 2014; Akormedi et al, 2013; Asampong et al, 2015; Burns et al, 2016), and capitalize upon our growing collaborative relationship with the Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association. The socio-demographic characteristics of the study population here is similar to previous studies at Agbogbloshie by our research team and others thus enabling comparisons to be made.…”

“…Most workers live at Agbogbloshie resulting in continual exposure to hazards, and the region and its workers lack basic health and welfare services (Asampong et al, 2015). Despite such concerns, there has been little investigation of the job activities performed at Agbogbloshie.…”

“…In brief, and as outlined in our past studies at Agbogbloshie (Wittsiepe et al, 2015; Feldt et al, 2014; Akormedi et al, 2013; Asampong et al, 2015; Burns et al, 2016), a community entry activity facilitated by the Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association took place to notify and familiarize the workers with the study’s purpose and procedures. Inclusion criteria for participation in the study were age greater than or equal to 18 years old, and involvement in the e-waste recycling process for least the previous six months.…”

Prevalence and injury patterns among electronic waste workers in the informal sector in Nigeria

“…As far as we are aware, the only publication on occupational injuries among informal e-waste workers is one qualitative study in Ghana, which studied the health-seeking behaviour of the e-waste workers when they are sick or sustain injury at work 19. The first step to injury prevention is knowing the magnitude of the problem.…”

Towards an Assessment Methodology to Support Decision Making for Sustainable Electronic Waste Management Systems: Automatic Sorting Technology

“…They however observed that the research focusing on evaluating the design of the e-waste supply chain was moving towards a more holistic framework for sustainability assessment. A further review made within this study showed that: ‚ e-waste recycling programs and take-back schemes have been assessed against more than one bottom line of sustainability, such as [13,14] ‚ sustainability-related assessments on e-waste treatment processes found in the literature focused on environmental assessments or alternatively on social sustainability assessments; the former have been primarily delivered through a life-cycle assessment methodology, as in [15,16], whereas the latter, which focused primarily on health conditions of workers, have been made through in-depth interviews [17] and reporting of health-related indicators related to human toxicity [18].…”