• Health

Health and climate change

This article considers the health impacts of climate change and discusses policies and interventions to address these effects. Many of the most important global killers including malaria and diarrhoea are highly sensitive to climatic conditions, yet a comprehensive strategy to support a public health response is lacking. The paper discusses preventative environmental health interventions including scaling up water and sanitation services and providing point-of-use disinfection; and examines integrated measures that address the root causes of vulnerability to natural disasters. Post flooding health effects can be reduced by adequately planned and funded health-sector responses, including interventions to control outbreaks of vector-borne and water-related diseases.

The paper concludes that climate change strains existing weak points in health protection systems and calls for reconsideration of public health priorities. The most effective priorities are likely to be strengthening of the key functions of environmental management, surveillance and response to safeguard health from natural disasters and changes in infectious disease patterns, and a more pro-active approach to ensure that development decisions serve the ultimate goal of improving human health. [adapted from author]

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