Herders Face Increased Health Risks

-An NCPH survey on the health conditions of herders reveals that one in every two herders is overweight-

By E.OYUNDARI

The National Center for Public Health (NCPH) of Mongolia has conducted research on the livelihood and health conditions of Mongolian herders and released recommendations on ways to improve their health and livelihood. The survey was carried out within the "Health and Livelihood of Mongolian Herders" project from 2012 to 2014.

According to the National Statistics Office of Mongolia, thirty two percent of the population resides in the countryside, and 30.5 percent of them (285,691 people) are herders. In the last five years, the number of herders has decreased by 22.6 percent, due to the factors such as development tendencies, social changes, and changes to the environment and climate. The living conditions of herders is improving, thanks to modern technological developments and social and economic situations, however, their livelihood is still in great contrast to those of central urban residents.

The NCPH survey covered 471 herders above the age of 18, selected from aimags that represent five regions of Mongolia, classified as the Western, Khangai, Eastern and Central regions. Zavkhan aimag represented the Western region, Arkhangai aimag represented the Khangai region, Dornod aimag the Eastern region, Dundgobi the Central region, while Tuv aimag was selected as a surveillance province.

Some 48.4 percent of the survey participants were men from 18 to 78 years old, and the remainder were women. Over 93 percent of them lived in gers. Herders of the Khangai and Central regions tended their livestock mostly by motorbike. They said that they made 43 percent of their income from selling the raw materials of cattle, however, almost a quarter of the respondents said that they did not gain fixed income from cattle productivity.

The survey showed that 60 percent of the herders in the study earned an income lower than subsistence level, and found that factors such as the environment, climate, number of livestock and livestock productivity influenced their income. Food consumption of herders was dependent on their household income, and they mostly ate products of animal origin and very few vegetables and fruits. Some 20.2 percent of total herders in the survey drank less than four liters of water per day, four to five times less than the NCPH's recommended amount of water consumption. Many...