Study shows impact of climate hazards on women, children
Women and children in Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Telangana are particularly vulnerable to climate change-related disasters, reveals an internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Children exposed to climate hazards are more likely to be stunted, underweight, and more vulnerable to early pregnancies, it elaborates.
The study exclusively accessed by The Hindu identies climate and health hotspots in order to specically understand the impact of oods, cyclones and droughts on health of women and children.
“The issue of climatechange impact on women and children is under-researched and often overlooked in policy formulation,” Soumya Swaminathan, chairper
The area of climate-change is under-researched, notes Soumya Swaminathan.
son, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), and former chief scientist of World Health Organization told The Hindu. Titled “How does climate change impact women and children across agro-ecological zones in India - A scoping study”, it was conducted by MSSRF.
Speaking on the sidelines of the WomenLift Health Global Conference 2024 at Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, in April earlier this year, Ms. Swaminathan said, “In our scoping study we realised that up to 70% of Indian districts are at very high risk of oods, droughts, and cyclones. Women and children’s under-nutrition, teenage pregnancy and domestic violence indicators in these hotspots are also very stark.”
Overall, 183 districts were vulnerable to hydrometeorological disasters such as cyclones and oods, while 349 districts witnessed drought.
The study was able to generate certain spatial hotspots where high exposure to hydro-met hazards such as oods, cyclones and droughts signicantly coexists with a higher prevalence of poor health variables such as underweight women and child marriage.
In northern areas of Bihar and Gujarat, the geospatial maps show hotspots where exposure to drought, ood, and cyclone coexist with stunting and underweight children.