Climate Change Health Impacts

When thinking about COP 15 which took place in Copenhagen last year and COP 16 which is taking place here in Cancun this week I recently found out that within the past two years there have only been 3 sessions on health care and how it is negatively impacted by climate change. When finding this out I was surprised to learn people are dying from the air pollution, sea level rise, and many other causes all because we ignore what is happening around the world. I found out that a majority of delegates attending the conference believe that sufficient climate change action will not be achieved at the international level without public support and the well being of others in mind. Climate change and health are very closely linked together, so much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) selected climate change and health care as the focus of World Health Day in 2008. If the world starts acknowledging the impact of climate change on human health and takes action sooner rather than later, we can save lives now and limit negative effects on the environment.    

Maria Neira World Health Organization

I recently attended a session with many key speakers including Dr. Maria Neira who is charge of the World Health Organization and Dr. Jose Villalobos who is the Secretary of Health for Mexico. They spoke about how closely linked climate change human health really are and said that the effects from climate change represent the biggest global health threat in the 21^st century. Natural disasters, the rise of atmospheric temperatures, sea level rise, and air pollution are all effects of climate change and affect human health significantly. Areas of poverty are at the greatest health risk from these effects.

When natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, or even droughts caused by climate change hit high poverty areas people are highly susceptible to new diseases due to lack of resources and medical treatment.  Floods and droughts are also harmful to health. Floods create breeding grounds for insects like mosquitoes that transmit disease, while droughts increase malnutrition in countries. When temperature increases, the risk of infection is 3.4 times higher for malaria and other tropical waterborne diseases. Dr. Michael Wilkes from the HEAL organization believes that within the next 20 years doctors will be encountering diseases that they have never seen before because of climate change. He believes that we need to educate people because we all have a personal responsibility to our own health but also the health of the planet. With shortages in water from droughts families have to move from where they live and that can cause many health issues for women including infertility and sexual violence from men. 

Air pollution is something that affects the health of people everywhere but has the greatest impact on the poorest women and children. Indoor air pollution kills around two million women and children a year due to the particulate matter in the smoke given off by wood burning stoves which are used to cook meals in poor  areas. The pollution from these stoves can cause respiratory and cardiovascular disease, allergies,  and asthma in women and children. WHO is promoting physical exercise to help fight climate change. Instead of driving a car they say to walk because it decreases carbon emissions, depression, injuries, osteoporosis, and infrastructure cost.

All of these deaths are preventable if health protection is prioritized and if adaptation aid is given to poor and developing countries. With clean water, better sanitation, vector control, early warnings for disasters and more humanitarian aid we will limit the negative impacts of climate change on health. A new advocacy and public health movement is urgently needed to bring together governments, international agencies,  nongovernmental organizations, and communities to address the impacts on health related to climate change. Training and education are key in combating this problem.  Climate change related impact on human health  is an important issue and needs to be heard by world leaders so that something can be done to help humanity instead of debating it for another year.