Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Cambodia : A Five-Country Study Conducted in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Vietnam Under the Economics of Sanitation Initiative
2008
World Bank
The sanitation impact study, initiated by the World Bank water and sanitation program, aims to generate sound evidence on the negative impacts of existing sanitation and hygiene conditions and the potential benefits of improvements in sanitation and hygiene in Cambodia. In this study, quantitative assessment is conducted on the economic impacts of poor sanitation and hygiene on health, water resource, tourism and other welfare impacts. In addition to the quantitative evaluation, the study also discusses the effects of poor sanitation on various qualitative dimensions including health-related quality of life, intangible user preferences, life decisions, and the quality of the surrounding environment. The analysis focused on a narrow definition of sanitation, related to human excreta. However, there were instances in which sanitation as it relates to gray water and solid waste were also included. In measuring the impacts, the study uses a peer-reviewed methodology developed specifically for this study, which draws on established methods and, where these do not exist, develops new approaches to capture the impacts of poor sanitation. For improving policy interpretation of the results, the study distinguishes between financial and economic impacts, and presents for rural/urban areas and different geographical groupings at zonal level. Overall, the study finds that poor sanitation leads to economic losses. These economic losses are equivalent to 7.2 percent of the Cambodia's Gross Domestic product (GDP) in 2005. This amount is roughly equivalent to the contribution of the fishery sector, to the GDP, or twice the contribution of the forestry sector.
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