Objective -The short term association between daily mortality and ambient air pollution in the city ofLyon, France (population, 410 000) between 1985 and 1990 was assessed using time series analysis. Design -This study followed the standardised design and statistical analysis (Poisson regression) that characterise the APHEA project. Methods -Four categories of cause of death were studied: total (minus external causes), respiratory, cardiovascular, and digestive causes (as a control condition). Results -No association was found with any cause of death for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (03), nor, for any pollutant, for digestive conditions. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) and, to a much lesser degree, suspended particles (PM13), were significantly related to mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. The relative risk (RR) ofrespiratory deaths associated with a 50 pgIm3 increment of mean daily SO2 over the whole period was 1-22 (95% CI 1-05, 1-40); the RR for cardiovascular deaths was 1-54 (1.22,

The potential death toll from an epidemic is larger than the number of deaths directly associated with the infection. In this study, we find that prenatal exposure to a cholera epidemic in Peru increased childhood mortality and that surviving children were more likely to be underweight and to suffer from diarrhea. We further find that a significant part of this mortality happened during the first day of life, and that prenatal exposure to cholera decreased prenatal care and institutional deliveries, suggesting that the mortality and possibly other longer-term effects were partially driven by a reduction in prenatal investments.

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Obesity is a global epidemic costing billions of dollars and millions of deaths. The most cost-effective interventions are those that target children, aiming to prevent obesity rather than to reverse it later in life. Roughly 79% of overweight children under five live in middle-income countries, where only about half of the households have access to piped water at home. This study finds that access to piped water at home reduces children's overweight rate in the city of Tangiers. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that these benefits alone do not render this type of intervention cost-effective but adds significantly to other potential benefits. JEL Classification: I12, I18, H41, O12