【思源论坛第164讲】陈诚助理教授：成人疾病的胎儿起源-以台湾地区50年代的疟疾消除计划为例

Dr. CHEN Cheng is an Assistant Professor in the School of Economics at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Dr. Chen received his Ph.D. in Economics from Lehigh University in 2014 and B.S. in Economics from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2009.

This paper attempts to examine how malaria eradication in Taiwan during the 1950s, which successfully wiped out malaria within a short period, affected long-term health. Relying on three datasets covering the entire population of Taiwan, we construct diverse measures of health, including health utilization, functional abilities, chronic diseases, and catastrophic illnesses. Our results indicate that people who experienced larger reductions in early-life malaria exposure tend to have better health status as adults, especially women. A cost-effectiveness analysis suggests a sizable cost saving from the eradication program that improves early-life environment and helps to avoid costly diseases at a later point.