New life years measure assesses human impact of 2011 Canterbury, New Zealand quake

[Emily]

New life years measure assesses human impact of 2011 Canterbury, New Zealand quake

Published 12 March 2015


The World Health Organization (WHO) has devised the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) calculations, which assesses the cumulative number of ?lifeyears,? or healthy years, citizens have lost due to death, injuries, and being otherwise significantly affected such as having to evacuate their homes, and the financial damages they have incurred. Globally, on average the world loses about forty million lifeyears per year because of disasters, the vast majority in low- and middle-income countries. Using the DALY calculations, researchers have calculated that each person in Canterbury, new Zealand lost approximately 150 days of ?healthy life? in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake.

...

The basic premise of the measuring tool is that the value of human life should ethically be considered as equal everywhere, while the value of monetary damages is not, says Noy...

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire....-zealand-quake​