Winter Mortality in Hungary and Portugal, 1980-2017

Alda B. Azevedo , University of Lisbon
Laszlo Nemeth, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR)
Lajos Bálint, Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO)

The close relationship between exposure to extremely low indoor temperatures for long periods and excess winter mortality has been stated since long. Excess winter mortality results greatly from the combination of two factors: energy inefficiency of the housing stock (poor insulation and/or inefficient heating systems) and financial inability to keep home adequately warm (low household income and/or high energy prices). Liddell et al. (2015) suggest an approach based on the Heating Degree Days (HDD), a continuous metric that considers the outdoor temperature and the average room temperature, i.e., the need for heating indoor spaces. Available for all Member States at the NUTS2 level, the HDD is a promising approach to monitor and compare cold-related deaths over time and better inform public policy in the definition of goals and ways of improvement energetic efficiency and housing conditions. In this manuscript, we compare the cold-related winter mortality in Hungary and Portugal, 1980-2017.

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 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality