Climate change to trigger disease, says WHO
Health authorities urged to take action
MALE: Countries across the Southeast Asia region, including Thailand, are at an increased risk of facing more severe waterborne, foodborne diseases, and others transmitted through insects, as global temperatures rise, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.
Speaking at the 70th session of the WHO regional committee for Southeast Asia, WHO regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh urged health authorities in the region to be fully aware of the specific climate-associated health risks they face and draft plans accordingly.
“Climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as cyclones and floods in this region, exacerbating almost all public health risks, from foodborne disease to malnutrition and heatstroke. It also affects the spread and abundance of disease-carrying vectors such as mosquitoes, threatening the re-emergence of once-prevalent illnesses, from scrub typhus to dengue,” Dr Singh said.
Rising sea levels or prolonged drought posed by climate change can displace communities, while scarce resources can trigger instability and conflict in the region and a decline in agricultural output can aggravate and entrench poverty, she said.
“The challenges we all face are real and complex, therefore sustained investment in health is a vital weapon if governments wish to secure health and the well-being of their people and ensure that their hard-won economic progress continues,” she said.
Dr Singh said a strong health system is vital not only to keep people healthy, but is also the best defence against outbreaks and epidemics.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom urged governments to invest in strengthening health systems.
“This includes ensuring the right number of health workers with the right skills, in the right places, to give the right care, at the right time. It means ensuring that essential medicines are available, and that people do not have to choose between buying medicine and buying food.”
He emphasised the need for making health for all a top priority for the region.
According to the WHO, climatic changes already are estimated to cause over 150,000 deaths annually and is expected to cause about 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress between 2030 and 2050.
The 70th session of the WHO regional committee for Southeast Asia kicked off yesterday at Paradise Island in the Maldives.
The event is being held until Sunday and includes health ministers and senior health ministry officials from the region’s 11 member countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and East Timor.
Apart from how to build health systems’ resilience to climate change, issues relating to strengthening primary health care and the health workforce and progress towards universal health coverage, efforts to end tuberculosis from the region will also be discussed.