Original Research

Economic valuation of increased malaria due to climate change: A South African case study

Randall Spalding-Fecher, Shomenthree Moodley
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences | Vol 5, No 2 | a2682 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v5i2.2682 | © 2018 Randall Spalding-Fecher, Shomenthree Moodley | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 09 July 2018 | Published: 30 June 2002

About the author(s)

Randall Spalding-Fecher, Energy and Development Research Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Shomenthree Moodley, Minerals and Energy Policy Centre, South Africa

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Abstract

Malaria is one of the world's most serious and complex health problems. It is also one of the diseases identified as most likely to be affected by climate change, because transmission is sensitive to temperature and rainfall. The objective of this paper is to provide an initial economic valuation of the increased incidence of malaria due to projected changes in climate in South Africa, excluding costs and benefits of prevention and adaptation. We use market based economic valuation tools for morbidity, including cost of treatment and lost short term productivity, and report lost disability adjusted life years from malaria mortality due to climate change. We also discuss how human capital and willingness to pay approaches could be used for mortality valuation. The results show that the opportunity cost of increased morbidity from malaria would be between R277 million and R466 million in 2010, while the lost disability adjusted life years from increased mortality would be from 11 800 to 18 300 years in that year.

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Crossref Citations

1. Economic valuation of climate change adaptation in developing countries
Jesper Stage
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences  vol: 1185  issue: 1  first page: 150  year: 2010  
doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05168.x