Course:ECON371/UBCO2010WT1/GROUP6/Article4
'Smoking And Solid Fuel Use In Homes In China Projected To Cause Millions Of Deaths'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081003191744.htm - []
Retrieved from: crudelyinterrupted.wordpress.com
Summary
According to the article from Science Daily, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has concluded that smoking and pollution from burning solid fuel at homes are associated with high levels of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and tuberculosis (TB) in China. The first quantitative analysis showed the effects of smoking and household fuel are linked with COPD, lung cancer and TB. Studies also suggested that if China continues with persistent current levels of smoking, biomass and coal fuel use in homes, it has been estimated that between 2003 and 2033 there will be 65 million of deaths that would arise from Chronic Pulmonary disease (COPD), and 18 million deaths from lung cancer in China. This accounts for 19% and 5% of all deaths in China during this period. The article stated that in China, about half of Chinese men smoke and more than 70% of household uses coal, wood, and crop residue to cook and heat their homes especially among low and middle income households. Researchers has set out to estimate the effects of modifying smoking, fuel use on moderating the future projection on COPD, lung cancer and TB incidence in China. Furthermore, researchers found that an early intervention should be placed in order to gradually reduce smoking and biomass coal within the next 30 years. This is necessary to avoid an estimated 26 million COPD deaths and 6 million lung cancer deaths.
Analysis
Although China is one of the fastest developing countries, the article suggested that if China continues to live with high consumption of smoking and fuel use in homes for cooking and heating houses, the nation is likely to suffer from increasing health risks including millions of deaths through COPD, lung cancer and TB. The reason for this is due to the fact that huge proportion of households are living in poverty, and their low standard of living is also a contributing factor for the high consumption of smoking and that many households are unable to afford cleaner fuel. Additionally, low-income households tend to use cheaper means of fuel energy such as wood and coal as they appear to be cheaper than clean-burning energy, which again, significantly raise the health risks factors in China. In order to reduce the health and death risks from smoking and burning fuels, the article suggested several methods including moderate and aggressive control of interventions. At the individual level, tobacco cessation programs should be offered to smokers as this may motivate more individuals to quit smoking, hence reducing the number of smokers in China. At the national level, it is necessary to implement economic policies such as stricter regulatory policies that restrict the use of biomass and coal use in households. Also, promoting cleaner energy fuel is suggested to be an efficient way of reducing pollutants. Using the moderate and aggressive control of, numbers of deaths would be reduced to as high as 39% in men and 29% in women.
Social Efficiency
In order to achieve social efficiency, China has to consider the long-term solution on dealing with the persisting problems associated with smoking and air pollution from solid fuel use at homes which further increases the marginal damage in the society. If interventions are not implemented, externality such as air pollution created by solid fuel use within households would increase the abatement cost in the future. Specifically, externalities caused by pollution would also increase a high estimated 65 millions of deaths from COPD and 18 millions from lung cancer by 2033. This place a higher cost within the healthcare system since millions of people will be going to the hospital for check ups and receiving medical treatments. Additionally, such persisting problems would increase financial misery especially among low-income households as they may not be able to afford the high medical costs.
Moreover, COPD, TB and other related disease associated with smoking and fuel burning would impede China’s labor force as an increase in the number of sick individuals would not be able to work, or fit to be employed within the economic sectors (manufacturing, service etc). Consequently, this slows down China’s productivity in the long-run and thus interfering with the nation’s total GDP per capita since growing number of sick individuals are no longer able to contribute their human capital for labor. In terms of the healthcare system, individuals from low-income households may not be able to afford insurance and therefore, marginal damage (MD) on society would tremendously increase without proper intervention. In the future, the government cost would relatively increase to deal with substantial researches on finding the appropriate cure or seek to improve the healthcare system since millions of people are already affected.
To prevent such scenario, stricter regulations and appropriate policy measures have to come from the national level. Chinese government would have to promote better education program in order to teach the population on harmful effects of smoking (e.g. implement smoking cessation program). Such program may also include proposing an anti-smoking campaign via media advertisements or banning smoking in public spaces to reduce number of second hand smokers. In relation to this, the Chinese government should impose higher tax on cigarette to discourage people from smoking. Similarly on dealing with better fuel efficiency, the Chinese population should be locally educated about the harmful risks of smoking and burning coals in homes. The government should provide and promote better energy alternatives especially among low and middle income households so that they are able to substitute biomass and coal use with alternatives such as investing in carbon energy for the future.
Some of these interventions can be done without relatively high costs. An early intervention will save the costs compare to the later intervention, for instance if smoking and biomass/coal were to be eliminated over the next three decades, an estimated 26 millions of deaths would be avoided. Although the government will not be able to force all citizens to quit smoking or stop burning solid fuels at home, China can achieve social efficiency where the marginal benefit equal to marginal cost, and such result would essentially need to be initiate by the government.
Prof's Comments
You do hit on a lot of the cost and benefits related to in-home air pollution and smoking. The issue of why people choose to use fuel in the home that produces a lot of smoke is important to consider. You do mention low income. With this in mind, it is important to evaluate solutions. A solution that somehow bans the use of coal and other high pollution home cooking and heating fuels is unlikely to be effective, as the poor have no alternative. Thus, what you say towards the end, low cost alternatives must be provided.