Lancet Countdown report calls for climate-driven health action
- November 17, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Lancet Countdown report calls for climate-driven health action
Subject :IR
Section: Reports and Indices
Context:
- The 8th annual report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change has shed light on the alarming convergence of factors that jeopardize the well-being of individuals, public health, and healthcare systems on a global scale.
Details:
- Climate crisis can be seen in the form of exacerbation of food insecurity, the proliferation of climate-sensitive diseases, and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
Lancet Countdown report:
- It reveals that the health impacts of climate change are surging worldwide, causing a devastating toll on lives and livelihoods.
- Adults over 65 years of age and infants under one year old, who are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, are now experiencing twice as many heatwave days per year than they would have in 1986-2005.
- The increasing destructiveness of extreme weather events jeopardizes water security and food production, putting millions of people at risk of malnutrition.
- 127 million more people are experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity in 122 countries in 2021, compared to the annual numbers seen between 1981 and 2010.
- The warmer seas have increased the area of the world’s coastline suitable for the spread of Vibrio bacteria that can cause illness and death in humans by 329km every year since 1982, putting a record 1.4 billion people at risk of diarrhoeal disease, severe wound infections, and sepsis.
- In Europe, where Vibrio-suitable coastal waters have increased by 142km every year.
- These rising risks of climate change are also worsening global health inequities.
About the Lancet Countdown:
- The Lancet Countdown works to ensure that health is at the centre of how governments understand and respond to climate change.
- Their work ranges from ensuring policymakers have access to high-quality evidence-based guidance, through to providing the health profession with the tools they need to improve public health.
- The 2015 Lancet Commission’s conclusion – that ‘tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century’ highlighted the need for a global monitoring system with the ability to engage policymakers and support health professionals.
- In 2016 the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change was formed to address this gap, beginning with a public consultation to identify key areas of health and climate change to track and monitor.
- The collaboration recognises that the voice of the health profession is essential in driving forward progress on climate change and realising the health benefits of a robust response.
- Publishing annually in The Lancet, with strategic and financial support from the Welcome Trust.
- It is hosted by University College London.
Source: WHO