It is hoped that this this study will spur the local and national governments and partners in the private sector to act by designing regulatory and policy measure and instruments that will significantly reduce the air pollution concentration levels in the Baguio CBD.
The study used the cost of illness (COI) approach to value the economic burden that households bear in term of having a households member be treated for falling ill or for dying due to an air pollution related disease. The type of illness related to acute (one-day) or long-term or chronic (one year or longer) exposure to PM were culled from the epidemiological literature. Data on the cost of treatment from illness per individual were obtained from a random survey of 398 households living within a 1.5 kilometer radius from the Baguio CBD PM monitoring station. The cost of premature death was estimated using the loss of productivity approach.