Are rural residents healthier that their urban counterparts? an evaluation of tuberculosis, gender and urbanization
Date
2010-04
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Abstract
Tuberculosis, one of the leading causes of morbidity, afflicts one-third of the world's population. Although deaths due to TB have decreased in the Philippines, the government still needs to strengthen its efforts to prevent the spread of the disease since TB principally affects the economically productive age group. Losses of about 26 billion pesos annually due to premature deaths from TB can be eliminated if strategies are improved. Ordinary Least Squares is employed to determine the significance of socioeconomic and demographic factors in the prevalence of TB and to analyze the difference between male and female adults. Results show that the number of urban residents per square kilometer has a positive effect on the adult TB rates in provinces and cities, while functional literacy consistently has a negative effect on the adult TB rates. From these, it can be recommended to formulate policies that would focus on reducing the number of urban residents in provinces and cities, and providing education to effectively reduce the number of TB patients.
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Keywords
Rural residents, Urban development, Rural development, Public health, Gender, Urbanization, Health evaluation