Abstract
To explore the factors associated with the prevalence of health shocks faced by low income people in rural Bangladesh is the major focus of the paper. This paper uses the country representative data called Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) which covers the period 2015 conducted by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). A simple Probit regression was performed to explore factors associated with the incidence of health shocks, particularly illness and skipping work due to illness. Several influencing factors of health shock exposure are identified; such as household characteristics, health care access and supply-side indicators such as accessibility to different facilities. The study finds that households prevalence to health shocks and experiences of illness are positively associated with increase in consumption while less educated and less affluent households are more hardly affected by health shocks. Access to medical facilities apart from access to financial markets is among the other major influencing factors of health shock prevalence. The finding of the paper is expected to provide evidence for policy-makers in designing health protection mechanisms and targeting the affected people.
 Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.6(3): 363-371, December 2019
Highlights
Health is an economic indicator of development
The study complements the existing works by identifying factors correlates to health shock experiences
Supply-side factors of health care such as medical care access are associated with health shock and skipping works due to illness
Summary
Health is an economic indicator of development. Numerous studies indicate that better health leads to better work and wage and smooths consumption, better livelihood, investment decision and many more (Paul and Gruber, 2002; Thomas and Strauss, 1997). The unpredicted nature of illness causes a high direct and indirect cost. Health shock illness incurs indirect costs by limiting the ability to work and reducing income (Daley et al 2009). An affected individual needs extra care and expenditures for treatment which is a direct cost. Illness or health shock is the major idiosyncratic shock that adversely affects the wellbeing of rural people (Asfaw and Braun 2004; Gertler and Gruber 2002)
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