WUNRN
THE PHILIPPINES - RESEARCH SHOWS
TYPHOON MORTALITY FOR BABY GIRLS MUCH HIGHER UP TO 24 MONTHS AFTER
Tropical cyclones hitting
the
The research examines the
aftermath of typhoons that have struck the
The economists found that
while officials report roughly 740 deaths on average every year due to typhoon
exposure in the Philippines, post-typhoon mortality among baby girls is
approximately 15 times higher than that, likely due to the indirect
poverty-worsening effects of the storm. Because the Philippines is so hard hit
by typhoons every year, the authors estimate that these delayed infant deaths
account for approximately 13 percent of the country’s overall infant mortality
rate.
The risk of a baby girl
dying after a typhoon doubles if she has older sisters in the home, and the
risk doubles again if the she has older brothers – suggesting that the
competition for resources among siblings may play a key role in these deaths.
The researchers did not find a spike in the mortality rates for baby boys, but
they uncovered an elevated mortality risk among baby girls that lasts up to two
years after a typhoon.
“It seems unlikely that the
households in which female infants die are intentionally allowing these infants
to perish,” the researchers report. “It is more plausible that parents believe
their newborn can cope with higher-than-average levels of neglect, and that there
will be limited permanent damage. Unfortunately, for a small number of unlucky
families, the assumption proves false.”
The authors also speculate
that parents may provide more or different food or care to baby boys than
girls, perhaps unconsciously.
Hsiang and Anttila-Hughes
said that the high death rate for baby girls is probably the specific result of
the economic aftermath that follows a typhoon’s destruction and the coping
strategies used by families that struggle economically for months or years after
a typhoon.The researchers document how families dramatically reduce spending on
healthcare, education and nutritious foods for years after they lose their
homes, property, infrastructure and income.
“Infants are more fragile
than other family members, and some can’t handle it when families cut back.
Their health deteriorates gradually, and then one day, they just don’t pull
through,” said Hsiang. “We think that economic factors are key, because roughly
half of the baby girls who die weren’t even born or conceived when the various
storms hit.”
The spike in female infant
deaths underscores the huge economic adjustments for typhoon survivors. The
study found that in an average year, the income of Filipino households in
typhoon-hit areas is depressed 6.6 percent due to typhoons that occurred the
year before, leading to a 7.1 percent reduction in average household spending.
However, when particularly
strong storms strike, incomes may fall more than 15 percent the following year
– compounding loss from damage to a family’s home and belongings. And although
or maybe partially because typhoons are a regular weather feature in the
Instead, Hsiang and
Anttila-Hughes said, during a difficult year families reduce spending,
primarily on medicine and education by about 25 percent, transport and
communication by about 35 percent, and high-nutrient foods that include meat,
dairy products, eggs and fruit by about 30 percent.
The researchers used a physical model that Hsiang developed in 2010 to
replicate and record typhoon exposure in individual provinces. To measure
household impacts, they matched their reconstructed storm data with economic
information collected every three years by the Filipino government on family
income, consumption and physical assets. They then linked both datasets to a
third data set on births and infant mortality.
This triad of data sets
allowed the researchers to characterize the multi-dimensional household
responses presented in the working paper,“Destruction, Disinvestment and Death: Economic and Human
Losses Following Environmental Disaster” and provide an alarming
look at climate adaptation and mitigation practices.
“The fact that we continue
to observe large typhoon impacts in one of the world’s most intense typhoon
climates where populations have already adapted,” Hsiang said, “suggests that
costs are so high that populations think that they are better off suffering
typhoon losses rather than investing in additional protection”
This indicates, he said,
that a central challenge for policy makers is to convince people to spend on
costly investments that will protect them in the future. “It’s a bit like
trying to convince people to wear a seat belt while driving a car or a helmet
while riding a bike,” Hsiang said.
The researchers suggest
several policies to help improve the post-storm situation for Filipinos: