The Impact of Natural Disasters on Child Health

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity, and human toll of extreme weather events such as floods and hurricanes. Children living in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of these disasters because many live in areas that lack the resources to mitigate, respond to, and recover from the devastation. Children might also be particularly sensitive to the indirect health effects from disasters—morbidity and mortality due to compromised conditions such as food security and clean water—as their health is more vulnerable to shocks. However, these indirect effects are typically not included in the estimates of disaster deaths. Getting estimates of the indirect burden of disasters on child health is therefore central for designing mitigation and adaptation strategies. Recent evidence from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico suggests that indirect mortality impacts could far outweigh the direct effects. In the proposed project we aim to improve measurement of the direct and indirect child mortality burden of floods and storms (i.e., hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons) in over 50 LMICs. These disaster types are particularly impacted by climate change and have a devastating human toll. Specifically, we propose to (i) catalog the precise location and intensity of storms and floods in Africa, Asia, and Latin America; (ii) link disaster events to child health records, (iii) estimate the impact of these disasters on child mortality; and (iv) study the mechanisms and behaviors that contribute to disaster related mortality, which will help inform mitigation strategies. This study will provide the first wide-spanning empirical evidence of the indirect impacts of some of the most harmful disasters on child health in LMICs. Our results will guide efforts to mitigate the consequences from these tragic events.