Abstract
We measure the impact of extreme weather events—droughts and floods—on health-care utilization and expenditures in Sri Lanka. We find that frequently occurring local floods and droughts impose a significant health risk when individuals are directly exposed to these hazards. Individuals are also at risk when their communities are exposed even if they themselves are unaffected. These impacts, especially the indirect spillover effects to households not directly affected, are associated with land use in affected regions and access to sanitation and hygiene. Finally, both direct and indirect health risks associated with floods and droughts have an economic cost: our estimates suggest that Sri Lanka spends $19 million per year directly on health-care costs associated with floods and droughts. This cost is divided almost equally between the public purse and households, with 83% of it spent on flood-related health care and the rest on drought-related health care. In Sri Lanka, both the frequency and intensity of droughts and floods are likely to increase because of climatic change. Consequently, the health burden associated with these events will likely increase.
Highlights
Extreme weather events or disasters can potentially lead to significant and adverse health outcomes
There is a paucity of quantitative evidence on the extent of the current cost burden of health risks associated with extreme weather events (Smith et al 2014, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 2011)
This paper examines the impact of such risks on health-care utilization and costs, by focusing on floods and droughts and their effects on the health sector in Sri Lanka
Summary
Extreme weather events or disasters can potentially lead to significant and adverse health outcomes. Floods and droughts can cause health spillovers into unaffected populations in disaster-affected regions since health consequences occur through complex interactions These interactions include the impaired ability of the health system to reduce these risks and the adverse economic consequences borne by indirectly affected households through reduced potential income and the strain on public services provision (Smith et al 2014, Nomura et al 2016, Noy and Patel 2014). The findings of this paper can inform us about the additional future cost burden we should expect should climate change predictions materialize and lead to a significant change in the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather events Without accounting for these health-care costs, we are potentially underestimating the benefits of disaster risk reduction and climate mitigation policies.
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