Comment 103087

By KevinLove (registered) | Posted July 08, 2014 at 20:02:49 in reply to Comment 103077

The Medical Officer of Health data may be found here and here.

From the first source, we break out Hamilton's share of total GTHA deaths due to people being poisoned by car drivers. "...traffic-related air pollution is responsible for over 850 premature deaths a year and thousands of hospitalizations." This share is broken out based upon Hamilton's proportion of the GTHA population, and gives 93 people dead every year in Hamilton because they were poisoned by car drivers.

From the second source, we get the ratio of health-care costs per death.

The current study determined that traffic gives rise to about 440 premature deaths and 1,700 hospitalizations per year in Toronto. While the majority of hospitalizations involve the elderly, traffic-related pollution also has significant adverse effects on children. Children experience more than 1,200 acute bronchitis episodes per year as a result of air pollution from traffic. Children are also likely to experience the majority of asthma symptom days (about 68,000), given that asthma prevalence and asthma hospitalization rates are about twice as high in children as adults...

... This study estimates that mortality-related costs associated with traffic pollution in Toronto are about $2.2 billion.

Applying the same ratio of deaths to injuries to costs in Hamilton leads us to conclude that it isn't just 93 people killed in Hamilton every year because they are poisoned by the lethal air pollution put out by car drivers. An additional 395 people in Hamilton are poisoned by car drivers every year and injured so seriously they have to be hospitalized.

Children, the elderly and hospital patients are particularly vulnerable to these poisons. Every year in Hamilton children suffer 15,510 asthma symptom days and an additional 279 children suffer acute bronchitis attacks due to being poisoned by car drivers. Health care costs due to people being poisoned by car drivers are $511 million every year in Hamilton.

It is mostly just simple ratios, but if you have trouble following any part of the math, just let me know and I'll walk you through it.

What is most important, of course, is to put an end to this horrific death and injury.

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2014-07-08 20:06:48

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