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Climate change poses huge threat to human health

BMJ 2008;336191-194

Climate change will have a huge impact on human health and bold environmental policy decisions are needed now to protect the world’s population, according to a leading public health specialist.

The threat to human health is of a more fundamental kind than is the threat to the world’s economic system, according to Prof. Anthony McMichael, of the Australian National University. “Climate change is beginning to damage our natural life-support system,” he said.

The risks to health are many, and include the impact of heat waves, floods and wildfires, changes in infectious disease patterns, the effect of worsening food yields and loss of livelihoods, he added.

The World Health Organisation estimates that a quarter of the world’s disease burden is due to the contamination of air, water, soil and food, particularly from respiratory infections and diarrhoeal disease.

Climate change will make these and other diseases worse, Prof. McMichael said. While it is unlikely to cause entirely new diseases, it will alter the incidence, range and seasonality of many existing health disorders. So, for example, by 2080, between 20 million and 70 million more people could be living in malarial regions due to climate change.

The adverse health impacts will be much greater in low-income countries and
vulnerable sub-populations than in richer nations.

Posted in on 05 February 2008
Tags: public health, WHO

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Irish Medical Times | Clinical TImes | Climate change poses huge threat to human health

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abortion, accupuncture, ACE inhibitors, acne, ADHD, alcohol, allergies, Alzheimer's, anaemia, anaethesia, anorexia, antibiotics, antidepressants, antihistamine, anxiety, appetite control, arthritis, ASCOT, aspirin, asthma, atherosclerosis, autism, autoantibodies, back pain, beta carotene, beta-blockers, bipolar disorder, birth, bleeding, blindness, blood pressure, body dysmorphic disorder, body mass, breast cancer, breast feeding, bronchitis, Caesarean section, calcium, cancer, carcinogens, carcinoma, cardiac syncope, cardiolgy, cataracts, cervical cancer, chemotherapy, child psychiatry, children, cholesterol, clinical trial, clopidogrel, Clostridium difficile, cognitive behavioural therapy, colectomy, colic, colorectal cancer, complementary and alternative therapies, contraception, COPD, coronary care, coronary stents, Crohn's, cystic fibrosis, defibrillator, dementia, depression, dermatology, diabetes management, diet, disability, DNA, Down's syndrome, eating disorders, echinacea, ECT, eczema, elderly people, endoscopy, epilepsy, erectile dysfunction, euthanasia, exercise, fat, fertility, fitness, flu pandemic, fluoxetine, folic acid, food labelling, fracture, fragile X syndrome, general surgery, genetics, gerontology, GIK infusion therapy, GORD, gout, haemodialysis, hearing, heart attack, heart disease, heart failure, heart health, hepatitis, HIV, hospital care, HPV, HRT, hyperglycaemia, hypertension, hypoglycaemia, IBD, ICU, incontinence, infant, infant mortality, infection, inflammatory bowel disease, influenza, invasive candidiasis, IQ, Irish Heart Foundation, irritable bowel syndrome, keyhole surgery, kidney disease, laser, learning difficulties, leukaemia, liver disease, lumbar disk herniation, lung cancer, lung disease, lymph nodes, macular degeneration, macular oedema, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), malaria, malnutrition, Marfan syndrome, media, medical ethics, medical research, medication, meningitis, mental illness, metabolic syndrome, migraine, miscarriage, mortality rate, MRSA, multiple sclerosis (MS), NCHDs, nephrology, neurology, OAB, obesity, obstetrics, occupational health, ocular medicine, omega-3, opthalmology, oral cancer, organ transplantation, orthopaedics, osteoporosis, otolaryngology, ovarian cancer, paediatrics, pain management, pancreatic cancer, panic, Parkinson’s disease, patient safety, patient-physician communication, personality disorders, physiotherapy, plastic surgery, polio, practice, pre-eclampsia, pregnancy, preventative health care, probiotics, prostate cancer, psoriasis, psychiatric admission, psychiatry, psychotherapy, PTSD, public health, quality of life, radiology, radiotherapy, rectal cancer, reproductive health, research, resuscitation, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatology, rhinitis, salt, SARS, schizophrenia, screening, seizures, self harm, sexual abuse, sexual health, sexually transmitted infections, SGA, sinusitis, skin cancer, sleep disorders, smoking, smoking ban, spinal injury, sports medicine, statins, stress, stroke, substance abuse, suicide, supplement, surgery, syncope, technology, teenagers, testosterone, thoracic surgery, thrombosis, thyroid cancer, tonsillectomy, tonsillitis, Tourette's syndrome, toxicology, travel medicine, tuberculosis, tumour angiogenesis, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, ulcer, ulcerative colitis, urinary incontinence, vaccine, vitamins, weight, WHO, women's health, World Health Assembly

«Previous article | Next article»

Climate change poses huge threat to human health

BMJ 2008;336191-194

Climate change will have a huge impact on human health and bold environmental policy decisions are needed now to protect the world’s population, according to a leading public health specialist.

The threat to human health is of a more fundamental kind than is the threat to the world’s economic system, according to Prof. Anthony McMichael, of the Australian National University. “Climate change is beginning to damage our natural life-support system,” he said.

The risks to health are many, and include the impact of heat waves, floods and wildfires, changes in infectious disease patterns, the effect of worsening food yields and loss of livelihoods, he added.

The World Health Organisation estimates that a quarter of the world’s disease burden is due to the contamination of air, water, soil and food, particularly from respiratory infections and diarrhoeal disease.

Climate change will make these and other diseases worse, Prof. McMichael said. While it is unlikely to cause entirely new diseases, it will alter the incidence, range and seasonality of many existing health disorders. So, for example, by 2080, between 20 million and 70 million more people could be living in malarial regions due to climate change.

The adverse health impacts will be much greater in low-income countries and
vulnerable sub-populations than in richer nations.

Posted in on 05 February 2008
Tags: public health, WHO

Leave a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

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