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Heat-related health problems, such as cardiovascular or kidney disease, are increasing worldwide due to the effects of climate change on the elderly, urban dwellers and patients already suffering from anemia. disease, a report said Thursday.
Europe is more vulnerable than Africa and South-East Asia, because in the Old Continent, there are more elderly people living in cities, where the effects of heat can to be particularly devastating, according to this report, appeared in the medical journal The Lancet and signed by experts. international
"Global health in the centuries to come will depend on the nature and magnitude of the responses we bring to climate change," said one of the authors of these papers, Professor Hilary Graham of the 39, York University of York.
This annual report, titled "Countdown to Health and Climate Change", measures 41 key indicators related to these two issues. Its 2018 edition was published four days before the start of the 24th World Climate Conference in Poland, COP24.
"In 2017, more than 157 million vulnerable people over the age of 65 have been exposed to heatwaves around the world, 18 million more than in 2016," the document said.
"Due to the rising temperatures caused by climate change, vulnerable populations are exposed to heat stroke, which increases their risk of developing cardiovascular and renal diseases," said the authors.
These vulnerable populations are "people over 65, urban residents and patients with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases".
This phenomenon threatens not only global health but also national economies.
"In 2017, 153,000 million hours of work were lost due to heat exposure, 62,000 million more than in 2000," particularly "in India, Asia South East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, "notes the report.
About 80% of lost work hours were recorded in agriculture (122 000 million); 17.5% in the industry sector (27 000 million) and 2.5% in the service sector (4 000 million).
The report also highlights the scarcity of budgets devoted to adapting health systems to higher temperatures.
AFP
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