The Economic Costs Of Illness From The Disposal Of The Yaounde Household Waste At The Nkolfoulou Dumping Site In Cameroon

摘要

This paper assesses the economic costs of illness from the disposal of the Yaounde household wasle at the Nkolfoulou dumping site by using the cost of illness approach- The results show that, in comparison to the Yaounde-city population, people living near the dumping site of household waste are two times more exposed to various diseases due to environmental pollution. The medical cost expenses and the loss of earnings resulting from illness are also two times higher for the dumping site population. The difference of the pooled financial, time and intangible costs from diseases between the Yaounde-city and dumping site populations which is 607,310 FCFA~1 per year per person (about 926 Euros/year/person) could represent the cost of pollution from disposing household waste at the Nkolfoulou dumping site. However, that amount could be avoided or reduced by simply processing the organic household waste into compost (so that only the remaining non-compostable inorganic residues can be landfilled) or by finding another waste dumping site location in less popular villages farther away from Yaounde-city.