Professor Debarati Guha-Sapir: 2. The Significance of Accurate Data

2. The Significance of Accurate Data

At the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in Belgium

With André Sapir in early days

Wedding Ceremony

While studying at graduate school, Debby met André Sapir, who was an economics PhD student. They got married in 1977.

Later, Debby began working for the Wisconsin state government in Madison on a leukemia research project. Five years after, Debby and André moved to Andrés hometown, Brussels, Belgium, where her new research career began.

Upon her arrival in Brussels, Debby faced considerable challenges due to the language barrier, cultural differences, and the lack of both acquaintances and employment opportunities. Despite these initial hardships, she eventually secured a position at the Catholic University of Louvain, where she encountered Professor Michel F. Lechat, who would become her lifelong mentor.

When they met for the first time, Professor Lechat offered her two positions: a well-paying but mundane data entry position, and a lower-paying research opportunity with a focus on malnutrition in poorer countries.

Around the time when she moved to Brussels

Without hesitation, Debby chose the latter, solidifying her resolve to dedicate her career to solving problems in impoverished nations. Under the guidance of Professor Lechat, she embarked on a journey of data collection, analysis, and research on disasters at the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in Brussels.

With Professor Michel F. Lechat

Scientific terminology

In 1985, Debby joined a large project to investigate the famine and drought in Chad, Africa. She was deeply moved by the harsh realities she witnessed firsthand in Chad. Thousands of people were extremely malnourished. The children looked like sticks and their mouths were white from dryness.

After spending three and a half months collecting data, Debby returned to Brussels and reported what she had seen to Professor Lechat. He asked her about the rate of malnutrition and mortality. She said, "Many people were dying." Professor Lechat told her, “The word ‘many’ is not a term for science. If you don’t have the number of deaths per head of population, then your information is meaningless.”

This experience instilled in Debby the significance of accurate data in disaster response. For example, when a famine occurs, mortality rates spike as the number of deaths increases rapidly. However, once the peak is surpassed, it starts to drop as the survivors seek medical treatment. Therefore, if a survey is conducted after the peak, there will appear to be fewer deaths than there actually is, leading to the false conclusion that the situation is not severe. To avoid such a mistake, it is necessary to compare mortality rates with past mortality rates.

Accurate data is crucial for conducting proper analysis; data becomes useful information for considering measures or strategies only when combined with other factors such as the overall population of the region and the situation on the ground. This realization prompted Debby to develop a system for collecting and comparing such data.

3. Disaster Database, EM-DAT