title: Transboundary smoke haze pollution in Malaysia: inpatient health impacts and economic valuation.
abstract: This study assessed the economic value of health impacts of transboundary smoke haze pollution in Kuala Lumpur and adjacent areas in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Daily inpatient data from 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009 for 14 haze-related illnesses were collected from four hospitals. On average, there were 19 hazy days each year during which the air pollution levels were within the Lower Moderate to Hazardous categories. No seasonal variation in inpatient cases was observed. A smoke haze occurrence was associated with an increase in inpatient cases by 2.4 per 10,000 populations each year, representing an increase of 31 percent from normal days. The average annual economic loss due to the inpatient health impact of haze was valued at MYR273,000 ($91,000 USD).
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Malaysia. Electronic address: j_othman@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia. Electronic address: Mazrura@ukm.my.
authors.forename: Mazrura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sahani
authors.affiliation: Earth Observation Center, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia. Electronic address: Mastura@ukm.my.
authors.forename: Mastura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmud
authors.affiliation: Health Informatics Center, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Md Khadzir Sheikh
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Ahmad
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D062489:Health Impact Assessment; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D012906:Smoke / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D012906:Smoke
keywords: Dose–response function; Economic valuation of smoke haze; Indonesian-source smoke haze; Smoke haze episodes in Malaysia; Smoke haze impact on inpatient cases; Transboundary smoke haze pollution