important facts
- Climate change is directly contributing to humanitarian emergencies such as heat waves, wildfires, floods, tropical storms and hurricanes, which are increasing in size, frequency and intensity.
- Research shows that 3.6 billion people already live in areas that are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause around 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress alone.
- Direct damage costs to health (excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture, water and sanitation) are estimated to be between US$2 and US$4 billion per year by 2030.
- Regions with weak health infrastructure, primarily in developing countries, are the least able to cope without preparedness and response support.
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through improved transport, food, and energy use can have huge health benefits, especially through reducing air pollution.
overview
Climate change poses a fundamental threat to human health. It affects not only the physical environment but also all aspects of both natural and human systems, including social and economic conditions and the functioning of health systems. It therefore multiplies the threat and could undermine and reverse decades of health progress. As climate conditions change, weather events and events such as storms, heat waves, floods, droughts, and wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense. These weather disasters directly and indirectly impact health, increasing the risk of mortality, non-communicable diseases, the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and health emergencies.
Climate change is also impacting health workers and infrastructure, reducing their ability to deliver universal health coverage (UHC). More fundamentally, climate shocks and increased stress, such as changes in temperature and precipitation patterns, droughts, floods, and sea level rise, exacerbate environmental and social determinants of physical and mental health. Every aspect of health, from clean air, water and soil to food systems and livelihoods, will be affected by climate change. Further delays in tackling climate change will increase health risks, undo decades of global health improvements, and run counter to our collective commitment to ensuring the human right to health for all. Become.
Impact of climate change on health
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) states that climate risks are emerging more rapidly and will become more severe than previously expected, with global warming increasing. It concluded that it would be difficult to adapt to the increase.
What’s more, 3.6 billion people already live in areas that are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Low-income countries and small island developing states (SIDS) endure the most severe health impacts, despite contributing the least to global emissions. Mortality rates from extreme weather events in the past decade were 15 times higher in vulnerable regions than in non-vulnerable regions.
Climate change is affecting many people, including increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, storms, and floods, the collapse of food systems, zoonotic diseases, and increased food, water, and vectors causing deaths and diseases. is affecting health. -Mediated diseases, and mental health issues. Furthermore, climate change is undermining many of the social determinants of health, including livelihoods, equality, and access to health care and social support structures. These climate-sensitive health risks are disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, including women, children, ethnic minorities, poor communities, migrants and displaced persons, the elderly, and people with underlying health conditions. It is being
Figure: Overview of climate-sensitive health risks, their exposure pathways and vulnerability factors. Climate change impacts health both directly and indirectly and is strongly mediated by environmental, social, and public health determinants.
Although it is clear that climate change will affect human health, it remains difficult to accurately estimate the magnitude and impact of many climate-sensitive health risks. However, advances in science now allow us to attribute increased morbidity and mortality to global warming, allowing us to more accurately determine the risk and magnitude of these health threats. .
According to WHO data, 2 billion people lack safe drinking water, 600 million people suffer from food poisoning every year, and 30% of deaths from food poisoning occur in children under the age of five. Climate stressors increase the risk of waterborne and foodborne illnesses. In 2020, 770 million people faced hunger, mainly in Africa and Asia. Climate change will impact food availability, quality and diversity, exacerbating food and nutrition crises.
Changes in temperature and precipitation facilitate the spread of vector-borne diseases. Without preventive measures, the number of deaths from such diseases, which currently exceeds 700,000 per year, could rise. Climate change causes both immediate mental health problems, such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress, and long-term disabilities due to factors such as displacement and disruption of social cohesion.
Recent studies believe that 37% of heat-related deaths are due to anthropogenic climate change. Deaths from heatstroke among people over 65 have increased by 70% in 20 years. In 2020, 98 million people experienced food insecurity compared to the 1981-2010 average. The WHO conservatively predicts that the effects of climate change on diseases such as malaria and coastal flooding will result in 250,000 new deaths per year by the 2030s. However, modeling challenges remain, particularly when it comes to understanding risks such as drought and migration pressure.
The climate crisis threatens to undo the past 50 years of progress in development, global health and poverty reduction, and further widen existing health inequalities between and within populations. This will affect the realization of UHC in a number of ways, including further exacerbating the burden of existing diseases and exacerbating existing barriers to accessing health services at a time when they are most needed. is seriously endangered. More than 930 million people, or about 12% of the world’s population, spend at least 10% of their household budget on healthcare costs. Most of the poorest people are uninsured, and health shocks and stress are already pushing around 100 million people into poverty each year, a trend that will only get worse as a result of climate change.
climate change and equity
In the short to medium term, the health impacts of climate change will primarily depend on people’s vulnerability, their resilience to the current rate of climate change, and the extent and pace of adaptation. In the long term, the impact will increasingly depend on the extent to which transformative actions are taken now to reduce emissions and avoid breaching dangerous temperature thresholds and potentially irreversible tipping points. It becomes dependent.
No one is safe from these risks, but those whose health is the first and worst hit by the climate crisis are those who contribute the least to its cause, and those who protect themselves and their families from the climate crisis. These are the least capable people. -Income and disadvantaged countries and communities.
Addressing the health burden of climate change emphasizes the importance of equity, with those most responsible for emissions bearing the highest mitigation and adaptation costs, and ensuring health equity and Prioritization of vulnerable groups should be emphasized.
Urgent action required
To avoid catastrophic health effects and prevent millions of deaths related to climate change, the world must limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Past emissions have increased global temperatures to some extent and made other climate changes inevitable. However, even with global warming of 1.5°C, it cannot be said that it is safe. Every tenth of a degree of warming causes serious harm to people’s lives and health.
WHO response
WHO’s response to these challenges centers on three main objectives:
- Promote actions that both reduce carbon emissions and improve health. Supporting a rapid and fair transition to a clean energy economy. Ensure health is at the heart of climate change mitigation policies. Accelerate mitigation measures that provide the greatest health benefits. and mobilize the health community to drive policy change and build public support.
- Build better health systems that are climate resilient and environmentally sustainable. Ensure core services, environmental sustainability and climate resilience as central elements of UHC and primary health care (PHC). Decarbonize high-emission health systems while helping them leapfrog to cheaper, more reliable, and cleaner solutions. Mainstreaming climate resilience and environmental sustainability into investments in health services, including health worker capacity.
- Protecting health from the wide-ranging effects of climate change: Assess health vulnerabilities and develop health plans. Integrate climate risks and introduce climate-informed monitoring and response systems for key risks such as extreme heat and infectious diseases. Supporting resilience and adaptation in health-determining areas such as water and food. and closing funding gaps for health adaptation and resilience.
Improving leadership and awareness: The WHO emphasizes the impact of climate change on health and aims to focus health on climate policy, including through the UNFCCC. WHO is working with leading health institutions, medical professionals and civil society to integrate climate change into health priorities such as UHC, and aim for carbon neutrality by 2030.
evidence and surveillance: WHO, together with its global network of experts, provides an overview of the global evidence, supports country assessments and monitors progress. The focus is on deploying effective policies and enhancing access to knowledge and data.
Capacity development and country support: Support is provided to ministries of health through the WHO Office, with a focus on cross-sector collaboration, up-to-date guidance, practical training, project preparation and implementation, and support for securing climate and health financing. Masu. WHO leads the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH), which brings together a range of health and development partners to help countries achieve their commitments to climate-resilient, low-carbon health systems.
