Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Need for Better Evidence

Kula, Nothemba; Haines, Andy; Fryatt, Robert

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001374

Cited by 30 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Sub-Saharan Africa is at particularly high risk of leptospirosis, as the rate of expansion of unplanned and impoverished urban slums in this region (Lau et al, 2010;UNFPA, 2007) and vulnerability to extreme climatic events (Kula et al, 2013) is one of the highest in the world. However, in many Sub-Saharan African countries, including Mozambique, data on the burden of leptospirosis are scarce (Allan et al, 2015;de Vries et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seroepidemiology of leptospirosis among febrile patients in a rapidly growing suburban slum and a flood-vulnerable rural district in Mozambique, 2012–2014: Implications for the management of fever

Ribeiro

Bhatt

Ali

et al. 2017

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seroepidemiology of leptospirosis among febrile patients in a rapidly growing suburban slum and a flood-vulnerable rural district in Mozambique, 2012–2014: Implications for the management of fever

Ribeiro

Bhatt

Ali

et al. 2017

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

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“…Increased investment in climate compatible African development could occur through various means including (i) improving public health and road infrastructure, (ii) providing incentives to import or build newer cars with lower baseline carbon emissions, (iii) supporting comprehensive drug therapy to treat NTDs, (iv) building institutions that train health professionals, (v) investing in agricultural production systems that are less vulnerable to the whims of extreme weather events, (vi) developing early warning systems for extreme weather events, and maintaining and improving current environmental health regulations, and (vii) improving water and air quality standards . Several African nations have pledged to dedicate their resources to these ends and more.…”

Section: Development Versus Environmental Conservation and The Path Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Preparing for and addressing the myriad health consequences of climate change in Africa require increased funding for research . Less than 10% of papers related to health and climate change that were published in 2017 focused on Africa specifically .…”

Section: Development Versus Environmental Conservation and The Path Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of climate change on human health in Africa, a dermatologic perspective: a report from the International Society of Dermatology Climate Change Committee

et al. 2020

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Throughout much of the African continent, healthcare systems are already strained in their efforts to meet the needs of a growing population using limited resources. Climate change threatens to undermine many of the public health gains that have been made in this region in the last several decades via multiple mechanisms, including malnutrition secondary to drought-induced food insecurity, mass human displacement from newly uninhabitable areas, exacerbation of environmentally sensitive chronic diseases, and enhanced viability of pathogenic microbes and their vectors. We reviewed the literature describing the various direct and indirect effects of climate change on diseases with cutaneous manifestations in Africa. We included non-communicable diseases such as malignancies (non-melanoma skin cancers), inflammatory dermatoses (i.e. photosensitive dermatoses, atopic dermatitis), and trauma (skin injury), as well as communicable diseases and neglected tropical diseases. Physicians should be aware of the ways in which climate change threatens human health in low-and middle-income countries in general, and particularly in countries throughout Africa, the world's lowest-income and second most populous continent.The African continent has the lowest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and accounts for less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 2 In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the socioeconomic conditions are strongly linked to the climatic conditions, loss of healthy life years as a result of climate change is predicted to be up to 500 times greater than in Europe. 3 By 2020, 85-250 million Africans are projected to experience increased water stress as a result of climate change, and crop yields from rain-fed agriculture may decrease by up to 50%. 4 Since 30-40% of Africa's GDP and about three quarters of its population rely on agricultural production as a primary income source, the economic consequences of this could be devastating. 2Given that most of the continent is in the tropical climate zone, sea level rise is expected to be higher than average, and there are at least three African coastal cities with populations over 8 million that may be severely affected. 2 According to the World Bank, as of 2019, the combination of erosion, flooding, and pollution have led to losses of over 3.8 billion United States Dollars (USD) annually, or 5.3% of the combined GDP of Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo, four countries along the West African Coast. 5 African nations will be forced to continue their development under these constraints, and at a high cost; the United Nations (U.N.) estimates climate change adaptation costs to Africa of ª

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“…A prerequisite to the effective use of new (in this case climate) information in health decision-making is the role of evidence (Kula et al 2013). Evidence needs to be gathered in relation to two distinct issues.…”

Section: Development Of a Climate And Health Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and health in Africa

Thomson

Mason²,

Platzer

et al. 2014

Earth Perspect

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This paper describes the work of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) and its partners towards the development of climate services for the health sector in Africa; integrating research, operational applications and capacity building alongside policy development and advocacy. It follows the evolution of IRI's health work from an initial focus on the use of seasonal climate forecasts to a wider agenda serving climate and environmental information needs to a broad range of health-related users. Recognizing that climate information must be relevant to the priority policy and programming needs of national and international health stakeholders, this review highlights an approach that has centered not only on the assessment and creation of evidence, but also on knowledge transfer through engagement with decision-makers. Current opportunities and priorities identified for the routine use of climate and environmental information in health in Africa include: i) understanding mechanisms by which climate impacts on transmission and occurrence of disease; ii) mapping populations at risk both in space and by season; iii) developing early warning systems; iv) understanding the contributions of climate to trends in disease incidence v) improving the evaluation of the impacts of climate-sensitive interventions. While traditional metrics (e.g. peer review publications) have been important in establishing evidence for policy, the IRI's role as a knowledge broker (in research and professional capacity building, facilitation of communities of practice, and engagement in policy dialogue at local and global scale) has been critical to delivery of its mission.

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Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Need for Better Evidence

Abstract: Robert Fryatt and colleagues argue for more attention to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has contributed the least greenhouse gas emissions to the world's total but is more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change than any other.

Cited by 30 publications

References 8 publications

Seroepidemiology of leptospirosis among febrile patients in a rapidly growing suburban slum and a flood-vulnerable rural district in Mozambique, 2012–2014: Implications for the management of fever

Seroepidemiology of leptospirosis among febrile patients in a rapidly growing suburban slum and a flood-vulnerable rural district in Mozambique, 2012–2014: Implications for the management of fever

The effects of climate change on human health in Africa, a dermatologic perspective: a report from the International Society of Dermatology Climate Change Committee

Climate and health in Africa

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