WHO
Director-General warns vulnerable populations
at greatest risk of projected impacts
Geneva, 7 April 2008 - Scientists tell us
that the evidence the Earth is warming is
"unequivocal." Increases in global
average air and sea temperature, ice melting
and rising global sea levels all help us
understand and prepare for the coming challenges.
In addition to these observed changes, climate-sensitive
impacts on human health are occurring today.
They are attacking the pillars of public
health. And they are providing a glimpse
of the challenges public health will have
to confront on a large scale, Dr Margaret
Chan, Director-General of the World Health
Organization
(WHO), warned today on the occasion of World
Health Day.
"The core concern
is succinctly stated: climate change endangers
human health," said Dr Chan. "The
warming of the planet will be gradual, but
the effects of extreme weather events -
more storms, floods, droughts and heatwaves
- will be abrupt and acutely felts. Both
trends can affect some of the most fundamental
determinants of health: air, water, food,
shelter and freedom from disease."
Human beings are already
exposed to the effects of climate-sensitive
diseases and these diseases today kill millions.
They include malnutrition, which causes
over 3.5 million deaths per year, diarrhoeal
diseases, which kill over 1.8 million, and
malaria, which kills almost 1 million.
Examples already provide
us with images of the future:
* European heat wave
2003. Estimates suggest that approximately
70,000 more people died in that summer than
would have been expected.
* Rift Valley Fever in Africa. Major outbreaks
are usually associated with rains, which
are expected to become more frequent as
the climate changes.
* Hurricane Katrina, 2005. Over 1800 died
and thousands more were displaced. Additionally,
health facilities throughout the region
were destroyed critically affecting health
infrastructure.
* Malaria in the East African Highlands.
In the last 30 years, warmer temperatures
have also created more favourable conditions
for mosquito populations in the region and
therefore for transmission of malaria.
* Epidemics of cholera in Bangladesh. They
are closely linked to flooding and unsafe
water.
These trends and events cannot be attributed
solely to climate change but they are the
types of challenges we expect to become
more frequent and intense with climate changes.
They will further strain health resources
which, in many regions, are already under
severe stress.
"Although climate
change is a global phenomenon, its consequences
will not be evenly distributed," said
Dr Chan. "In short, climate change
can affect problems that are already huge,
largely concentrated in the developing world,
and difficult to control."
To address the health
effects of climate change, WHO is coordinating
and supporting research and assessment on
the most effective measures to protect health
from climate change, particularly for vulnerable
populations such as women and children in
developing countries, and is advising Member
States on the necessary adaptive changes
to their health systems to protect their
populations.
WHO and its partners
- including the UN Environment Programme,
the Food and Agriculture Organization, and
the UN World Meteorological Organization
- are devising a workplan and research agenda
to get better estimates of the scale and
nature of health vulnerability and to identify
strategies and tools for health protection.
WHO recognizes the urgent need to support
countries in devising ways to cope. Better
systems for surveillance and forecasting,
and stronger basic health services, can
offer health protection. WHO will be working
closely with its Member States in coming
years to develop effective means of adapting
to a changing climate and reducing its effects
on human health.
"Through its own
actions and its support to Member States,"
said Dr Chan, "WHO is committed to
do everything it can to ensure all is done
to protect human health from climate change."
Website: http://www.who.int/world-health-day/en/
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson,
