The World Health Organization's Margaret Chan and the World Meteorological Organization's Michel Jarraud hold the "Atlas of Health and Climate" on Oct. 29 in Geneva.(Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi, Keystone, via AP)
GENEVA -- Two U.N. agencies have mapped the intersection of
health and climate in an age of global warming, showing that there are
spikes in meningitis when dust storms hit and outbreaks of dengue fever
when hard rains come.
Officials said Monday that their Atlas of Health and Climate is meant to be a tool for leaders to use to get early warning of disease outbreaks.
Though
the data or conclusions aren't necessarily new, the way in which they
are presented may sharpen governments' ability to respond to the threats
posed by rising temperatures and changing climate.
Since 2005,
for example, the atlas shows that the weekly number of cases of
meningitis, which is spread by bacteria and germs, has risen when the
dry season hits sub-Saharan Africa, where it has killed an estimated
25,000 people over the past 10 years. And since at least 1998, there has
been a strong seasonal pattern of dengue fever, transmitted by
mosquitoes, during periods of heavy rainfall in tropical and subtropical
areas, killing about 15,000 people a year.
The joint project of
the World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization,
both based in Geneva, says the likelihood of increasingly frequent heat
waves hitting the planet is four to 10 times as often by 2050 – and they
will probably most affect the fast-growing vulnerable populations of
aging and urban people particularly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
"Many
diseases including malaria, dengue, meningitis – just a few examples –
these are what we call climate-sensitive diseases, because such climate
dimensions for rainfall, humidity and temperature would influence the
epidemics, the outbreaks, either directly influencing the parasites or
the mosquitoes that carry them," said Dr. Margaret Chan, the
director-general of the U.N. health agency.
Chan said the data
could be used to better manage animals' habitat and ecosystems, which
would also make a big difference to people's health because 80% of the
infectious diseases currently found in humans have come from animals.
WMO
Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said the atlas is meant to translate
and map information buried in the agencies' technical documents "into
something which can be used by the decision-makers directly."
Associated Press