Objective To establish computable general equilibrium model, CGE, and assess health impact of air pollution on national economy in China. Methods Based on the current concentration-response relationships provided by international and domestic epidemiological studies, the authors estimated the labor loss and excess medical expenditure led by China's air pollution, 2000. In order to elucidate the mechanism of the health impact on national economy, a computable general equilibrium model containing 39 sectors and 32 commodities was constructed for China. Results The simulation of the model indicated that the health impact due to air pollution has led to a GDP loss by 0.38‰ (95% CI 0.162‰-0.511‰) in China, 2000. Conclusion Air pollution not only has adverse effect on human health, but also retards the development of national economy.

The existing frameworks of integrated assessment on air pollution-induced health effects can be classified into four types, i.e. U.S. EPA framework, U.S. Harvard University framework, Thailand framework and China framework. As the intention of integrated environmental assessment is to provide a scientific warranty for sustainable development-related policymaking process, the authors made a systematic review for the four types of integrated assessment framework. Not only the strong points and disadvantages in each type of framework were analyzed in detail, but also suggestions for future improvement in integrated assessment were put forward.

In China, combustion of fossil fuels and biomass has produced serious air pollution that does harm to human health. Based on dose-response relationships derived from epidemiological studies, the authors calculated the number of deaths and people with health problems which were thought to be attributable to China's air pollution in the year of 2000. In order to estimate the corresponding economic impacts from the national point of view, the general equilibrium approach was selected as an analysis tool for this study. A computable general equilibrium (CGE) model was constructed involving 39 sectors and 32 commodities. The human capital approach (HCA) was also used for comparison. The economic burden of disease for people estimated by HCA was equivalent to 1.26 per thousand (ranging from 0.44 per thousand to 1.84 per thousand) of China's gross domestic product (GDP). China's GDP loss estimated by the general equilibrium approach reached 0.38 per thousand (ranging from 0.16 per thousand to 0.51 per thousand). The difference between the two approaches and the implications of the results were discussed.
Air Pollution ; adverse effects ; economics ; China ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Environmental Exposure ; adverse effects ; economics ; Health Status ; Humans ; Models, Theoretical ; Morbidity ; Mortality ; Public Health ; economics

There are currently two commonly used approaches to assessing economic impacts of health damage resulting from environmental pollution: human capital approach (HCA) and willingness-to-pay (WTP). WTP can be further divided into averted expenditure approach (AEA), hedonic wage approach (HWA), contingent valuation approach (CVA) and hedonic price approach (HPA). A general review of the principles behind these approaches by the authors indicates that these methods are incapable of unveiling the mechanism of health impact from the point of view of national economy. On a basis of economic system, the shocks brought about by health effects of environmental pollution change the labor supply and medical expenditure, which in turn affects the level of production activity in each sector and the total final consumption pattern of the society. The general equilibrium approach within the framework of macroeconomic theory is able to estimate the health impact on national economy comprehensively and objectively. Its mechanism and applicability are discussed in detail by the authors.
Environmental Health ; economics ; methods ; standards ; Environmental Pollution ; economics ; Models, Theoretical