Economic cost of local attributable burden disease to PM2.5 ambient air pollution in Medellín, Colombia, 2010-2016

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The health impacts of air pollutant particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5) have been widely documented around the world. However, in Latin America there are few studies on the epidemiology of air pollution. Medellín is the second largest city in Colombia and one of the most polluted in the region; here, we have recently carried out different research on the subject, such as time series studies and the estimation of the local burden of disease attributed to ambient PM2.5 pollution (LBDPM2.5). The aim of this research is to determine the economic costs of LBDPM2.5 in Medellín for the period 2010-2016 METHODS: For this study, the disease cost approach and the human capital approach were taken into account. These include direct medical costs and indirect costs due to loss of productivity, as a way to approximate the calculation of the economic burden. The groups of health events in which the costs were estimated were those that had information on the population attributable fraction for PM2.5 in Colombia, according to the studies of the global burden of disease carried out by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. RESULTS:The economic costs of LBDPM2.5 had a cost of $ 281.2 million USD, $ 40.2 million USD annually, which represented 0.091% of the Gross Domestic Product of Colombia and 0.627 % of the department of Antioquia. The costs of premature mortality accounted for 80% of the total cost of the LBDPM2.5. These costs register an increasing gradient as the age of men and women advances, reaching exceptional levels in the elderly population. CONCLUSIONS:Our results do not differ from national and international reports and found a higher economic cost of LBDPM2.5 due to premature mortality. This is one of the few reports that estimates the cost of morbidity attributable to PM2.5. KEYWORDS: Air pollution, Cost of Disease, Particulate Matter, Colombia