Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Climate change threatens to increase the disease burden of the poorest populations in developing countries and will undermine the progress of UN Millennium Development Goals, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.

Small and marginal farmers dependent on rain-fed agriculture, the rural poor, urban slum dwellers, mountain people, the populations of small islands and those living on the seacoast will bear most of the burden of climate change, said Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO’s regional director for Southeast Asia.

The WHO has organised a three-day Regional Parliamentarians Conference on Protecting Human Health from Climate Change at Thimphu, Bhutan.

The parliamentarians attending the conference warned that climate change will affect the poor and most vulnerable populations in developing countries.

Urging member states to act now, especially in strengthening the capacity of the health sector, WHO said in a statement here: “The existing high burden of climate-sensitive health problems such as malnutrition, vector-borne diseases and diarrhoea, coupled with weak public health systems and limited access to primary health care, make millions of people in southeast Asia more vulnerable.”

Highlighting the impact of climate change on health, the organisation said diarrhoea was one of the most common causes of death among children under five years in Southeast Asia and climate change increases the incidence of the disease.

“Heavy rains and floods contaminate drinking water sources with human excreta by flooding septic tanks and sewerage systems. Scarcity of water caused by drought, decreased glacial melt water and increased salinity of coastal areas due to rising sea levels and storms compromises the quality of drinking water and sanitation,” it said.

“In recent years, there has been a significant increase in cases of dengue in the region. Bhutan and Nepal started reporting dengue since 2004 and 2006, respectively. Mosquitoes transmitting dengue previously found up to an elevation of 500 metres above sea level have now been sighted at altitudes of 2,200 metres in Darjeeling, India, and 4,000 metres in Nepal,” it added.

According to WHO, health problems and injuries caused by extreme weather events like heat waves, hurricanes and floods are obvious.

“But climate change also has a more subtle and sustained impact on human health by affecting the three basic pillars of life, namely air, water and food,” it said.

The World Health Report 2002 estimated that about 82,000 persons died due to climate change in southeast Asia in 2000; among WHO regions, Southeast Asia had the highest estimated deaths.