Limited evidence is available concerning the household-level costs of prevailing diseases and the potential cost of climate adaptation in Nepal. This study estimates these costs and assesses the relationships between prevalent diseases and climate adaptation at the household level using survey data from 420 households. An ingredients-based approach was used to estimate the cost of health and adaptation, and a Probit regression model was used to analyze the relationship between prevalent diseases and climate adaptation costs. Household direct curative costs are the highest among health cost components. Two-thirds of total health costs are direct costs for households. On average, 15.90% of household income is used for direct cost of health care. The climate hazard cost among afflicted households is estimated to be high. In addition, diseases like malaria, typhoid and jaundice, their costs, climate awareness program, droughts, family size and loss of per capita income are more likely to raise the cost of climate adaptation. The occurrence of gastritis, prevalence of diarrhea and cold waves are less likely to affect the cost. Policymakers should implement health financing schemes and adaptation strategies to prevent the loss of human health in western Nepal.
Keywords: Climate adaptation cost; Climate change; Economics; Environmental analysis; Environmental economics; Environmental health; Environmental science; Epidemiology; Health cost; Health economics; Natural hazard cost; Probit regression; Public health; Western Nepal.
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.