Health cost of air pollution in the Philippines
The Philippines, one of Asia’s strongest economies, is beleaguered by low wages in the country’s capital city of Php 570 (about US$ 10.3), which, according to Ibon Foundation data, is less than half the required Php 1,087 living wage for a family of five to live comfortably. With rising housing, utility, and food prices, there is little money left over for healthcare and savings.
The cost of preventing or managing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory disease, among others, adds to the daily struggles of Filipinos. In the same breath, the country’s deteriorating air quality adds to the people’s health burdens. According to reports, lead levels in the country’s capital, Metro Manila, are more than three times the World Health Organization’s established safe limit. Motor vehicles, factories, open burning, industries using coal and other non-renewable energies, and others are all sources of air pollution in the country.
According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) 2023 Report, air pollution is the third leading cause of death and disability due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The health effects of air pollution have a wide range of economic consequences, including “social costs, welfare costs, and welfare loss”.
The CREA report also stated that air pollution is responsible for 66,230 deaths in the Philippines in 2019, with 64,920 deaths being adults and 1,310 deaths being children, which is significantly higher than previous estimates. The corresponding economic cost of air pollution is estimated to be Php 2.32 trillion (approximately US$ 44.8 billion) in 2019, or 11.9% of the country’s GDP in 2019. The majority of the estimated economic cost of PHP 2.2 trillion (US$ 42.8 billion) is accounted for by premature deaths.
Air pollution has a negative impact on both economic productivity and welfare costs because it has been shown to increase the risk of death and disability from cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, and other causes.
Working days lost due to illness or caring for a sick child or dependents have a direct impact on productivity and earning potential. School absences have an impact on children’s “future economic productivity and income”, the CREA report said, adding that such consequences could be greatly reduced in the Philippines with cleaner air quality, demonstrating the importance of any reduction in air pollution.
Among other things, the country must ensure that it meets the World Health Organization’s global air quality guideline, which recommends a maximum level of 5 g/m3 for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for long-term exposure to protect health. According to CREA, doing so could “reduce annual premature deaths by 26%, emergency room visits related to asthma by 63%, and sick days by 35%”.
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