ANNOUNCEMENTS
Climate change accompanied by unsustainable human activities is aggravating the occurrences of the disasters. India because of its geographical attributes is highly prone to disasters likes floods, cyclones, tsunami, draughts, etc. The coastal region of India is surrounded by three major water bodies making it highly vulnerable to storm surges and cyclones. Andhra Pradesh, being a coastal state, having an extensive shoreline and higher population density near the coastal area coupled with the history of cyclones is recognized to be one of the states most susceptible to cyclones. Cyclones not only lead to destruction of physical property but also cause severe health implications and prevalence of diseases. Henec this study conducts a vulnerability assessment to estimate and compare the health vulnerability across different states and districts of Andhra Pradesh using an index-based approach using secondary data. Andhra Pradesh was found to be the fifth most vulnerable state and within Andhra Pradesh, Krishna district has the highest value for sensitive capacity component. After the identification of vulnerable segments, primary survey was conducted in Hamsaladeevi village in Krishna district to estimate the economic costs associated with the health damages; disease burden was estimated using cost of illness approach to arrive at the total value of economic burden of disease. The total average annual value of economic burden of disease was found to be Rs. 1,91, 324 (approximately).
