For the first time, attention is being paid to this at a climate summit. Health ministers are discussing in Dubai today how people can be better protected against the consequences of global warming.
A group of doctors in white coats is therefore taking action at the summit. “We are really in trouble,” said Joseph Vipond, a Canadian doctor. He remembers a child dying after an attack of asthma, made worse by inhaling smoke from forest fires in western Canada. “This has real world implications.”
Effect is deeper
There are fears that these consequences could partly undo the great progress made in the medical world in recent decades. Minister of Health Ernst Kuipers, present at the summit in Dubai, also sees this danger, he said when asked. “The answer is short but sweet: ‘Yes’.”
“We often think of climate change and our health in terms of a heat wave, or a serious storm or a flood,” says Kuipers. “In reality, the effect is much, much deeper than that. Climate change also has an effect on a healthy pregnancy, on our lungs, or on the mental development of children.”
In addition, climate change also changes the composition of the bacteria that people carry. This is related to the reduction in biodiversity. “And that is very important for our immune system and the way our immune system responds to infectious diseases.”
According to Kuipers, the climate poses a greater threat than corona. “After a few years, corona has been pushed into the background, with the exception of some people who have suffered long-term complaints from it. This is of an even greater magnitude and will have a permanent impact. And that means that it is all hands on deck. is to do something about it.”
3.6 billion people
Research shows that 3.6 billion people worldwide live in areas that are very sensitive to climate change. Experts expect that after 2030, heat, malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition in particular could lead to many additional deaths.
This partly concerns diseases transmitted by insects, such as dengue fever, malaria or the West Nile virus. Mosquitoes that carry viruses are becoming more common in areas where they previously could not survive, due to rising temperatures and more rain.
For example, according to the WHO, the number of cases of dengue has grown from about half a million in 2000 to more than five million in 2019. Malaria is also becoming more common. Five million more cases were registered in 2022 than the year before.
WHO: 250,000 additional deaths annually
Climate change affects people’s lives and health in many different ways, says the WHO. All kinds of factors that are important for health are influenced by it: clean air, safe drinking water, healthy food and a safe living environment. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to reach approx 250,000 additional deaths per year due to, for example, heat stress, malaria and diarrhea.
The floods in Pakistan last year led to a significant increase in the number of patients with malaria. As a result of storms, floods and drought, which reduce access to clean water, cholera is also becoming more prevalent. Last year, 44 countries reported cases of cholera, an increase of 25 percent.
Extreme heat causes people to be exposed to dangerously high temperatures more often. Last year there were about 86 days with such high temperatures, the medical journal The Lancet wrote last month.
Air pollution, especially as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels, also leads to health damage, the WHO warns. This causes an increase in respiratory problems and cardiovascular diseases.
2023-12-03 18:31:47
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