Climate change: health effects and response in South Asia

Abstract

Banalata Sen and colleagues call for urgent and inclusive action to address health impacts of climate change in South Asia

Nipah Virus: Past Outbreaks and Future Containment

“…Human population is on the rise and is always dependent on factors such as availability of resources, climate, trade and development. The presence of NiV has been reported in some of the most densely populous regions of the world, the South East Asia region (SEAR) [69]. The region represents only 5% of global landmass but contrastingly accounts for 26% of the world's population.…”

A Framework for Addressing the Twin Challenges of COVID-19 and Climate Change for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in South Asia

“…An article in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases affirms that dengue is perhaps the most important of the emerging infections likely to be affected by climate change (Pandey and Costello, 2019). The incidence of malaria and dengue fever has increased in various parts of South Asia (UNDP, 2016;Sen et al, 2017). In Bangladesh, the incidence of dengue and malaria has increased considerably in recent years.…”

“…• Increased risk of morbidity and mortality and damage of health care facilities due to increased storm surges, tsunamis, heavy rains and floods, tidal waves, and sea level rise. Hashizume et al, 2008;World Health Organization (WHO), 2014ADB, 2017;Sen et al, 2017;Dhimal et al, in press.…”

Climate change and infectious disease research in Nepal: Are the available prerequisites supportive enough to researchers?

“…South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) bears a significant proportion of the global burden of infectious diseases, which can be attributed to factors such as: a weaker health system capacity, rapid urbanization and land use, poor sanitation and hygiene, high population density, low socioeconomic status and a higher vulnerability to climate change (Laxminarayan et al, 2017;Sen et al, 2017). The institutional capacity of this region, including its diagnostic laboratories and surveillance systems, are under resourced and often fragmented; hence they are less organised to support the establishment of early warning systems for epidemic-prone and climate-sensitive infectious diseases (Laxminarayan et al, 2017;Sen et al, 2017).…”

“…South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) bears a significant proportion of the global burden of infectious diseases, which can be attributed to factors such as: a weaker health system capacity, rapid urbanization and land use, poor sanitation and hygiene, high population density, low socioeconomic status and a higher vulnerability to climate change (Laxminarayan et al, 2017;Sen et al, 2017). The institutional capacity of this region, including its diagnostic laboratories and surveillance systems, are under resourced and often fragmented; hence they are less organised to support the establishment of early warning systems for epidemic-prone and climate-sensitive infectious diseases (Laxminarayan et al, 2017;Sen et al, 2017). Advancement in epidemiological techniques (in statistical and mathematical models) have led to optimism about holistic investigation and prediction for climate-sensitive infectious diseases, by making use of high quality observational data on climatic variables, disease incidence, spatial distribution, hygiene coverage, socio-economic status, land coverage, disease susceptibility, and the vulnerability index (Harley et al, 2011;Parham et al, 2015).…”