Developing a practical framework to assess the economic impact of diseases related to air pollution in the City of São Paulo

• Grant number: 18/03955-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: May 01, 2018
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Hilário Nascimento Saldiva
• Grantee: Patricia Ferrini Rodrigues
• Supervisor: Sofia Isabel Vieira de Sousa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos Avançados (IEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade do Porto (UP), Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/06670-9 - Co-benefits of the reduction of atmospheric pollution from the transport of passengers in São Paulo: an integrated economic evaluation of health impacts using different vehicle emission scenarios, BP.PD

Abstract

Air pollution is estimated to kill between one and four million people worldwide each yea. In São Paulo, it is estimated that over 4,000 people die from air pollution-related diseases, being the city vehicular fleet responsible for 90% of the pollutants emitted. The mobility plan for São Paulo, PlanMob/SP 2015, highlights the environmental benefits of reducing the share of private vehicles transportation, establishing targets to improve sustainability of urban transportation in the city, aligned with international initiatives. Also, the "Air Quality Standards Change Report, which establishes new Air Quality Guidelines and provides related measures" was published in 2013, stabilizing air quality standards for the city (10 ¼g m-3 for PM2.5 and 20 ¼g m-3 for PM10, the same values as those recommended by the World Health Organization).Although health impact assessment of interventions focusing on the decrease of air pollution levels show clear health benefits, the health economic studies are important tools that provide information to decision makers for efficient use of available resources. There has been traditionally different approaches to estimates the social cost related to air pollution, showing not only a considerable degree of methodological heterogeneity, but also that many studies suffer from a range of conceptual deficiencies. A review of recent economic impact works performed for the city of São Paulo highlights this discrepancy.There has been recent efforts from the World Health Organization to promote the correct assessment of economic impacts in health impact assessments, mainly in low and middle-income countries. The main objective of this project is to design a practical framework and tool that can be applied to the city of São Paulo, in alignment with the most updated WHO guidelines for Economic Impact Assessment of health consequences of air pollution from transports. This alignment is important to help the design of public policies for air pollution control and sustainable transportation in urban environments. The methodology adopted here will be constructed with intense partnership with the Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health from the World Health Organization. (AU)