Water-Borne Diseases and Extreme Weather Events in Cambodia: Review of Impacts and Implications of Climate Change

Abstract

Cambodia is prone to extreme weather events, especially floods, droughts and typhoons. Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and intensity of such events. The Cambodian population is highly vulnerable to the impacts of these events due to poverty; malnutrition; agricultural dependence; settlements in flood-prone areas, and public health, governance and technological limitations. Yet little is known about the health impacts of extreme weather events in Cambodia. Given the extremely low adaptive capacity of the population, this is a crucial knowledge gap. A literature review of the health impacts of floods, droughts and typhoons in Cambodia was conducted, with regional and global information reviewed where Cambodia-specific literature was lacking. Water-borne diseases are of particular concern in Cambodia, in the face of extreme weather events and climate change, due to, inter alia, a high pre-existing burden of diseases such as diarrhoeal illness and a lack of improved sanitation infrastructure in rural areas. A time-series analysis under quasi-Poisson distribution was used to evaluate the association between floods and diarrhoeal disease incidence in Cambodian children between 2001 and 2012 in 16 Cambodian provinces. Floods were significantly associated with increased diarrhoeal disease in two provinces, while the analysis conducted suggested a possible protective effect from toilets and piped water. Addressing the specific, local pre-existing vulnerabilities is vital to promoting population health resilience and strengthening adaptive capacity to extreme weather events and climate change in Cambodia.

Climate Change–Related Water Disasters’ Impact on Population Health

“…Increases in water temperature, precipitation frequency and severity, evaporation–transpiration rates, persistent humidity, and changes in coastal ecosystems increase the incidence of water contamination with harmful pathogens and chemicals, resulting in increased human exposure and waterborne disease (Ahmed, Scholz, Al‐Faraj, & Niaz, ; Alderman, Turner, & Tong, ; Davies et al., ; De Man et al., ; Dura et al., ; Gao, Zhang, Ding, Liu, & Jiang, ; Kang et al., ; Lin, Wade, & Hilborn, ; Phung et al., ; Wade, Lin, Jagai, & Hilborn, ). Flooding events in particular increased the incidence of the following three diseases: hepatitis A virus (Gao, Zhang, Ding, Liu, & Jiang, , Gao, Zhang, Ding, Liu, Wang, & Jiang, ), bacillary dysentery (Liu, Liu, Zhang, & Jiang, ; Liu, Li, et al., ; Lin, Wade, & Hilborn, ; Ni, Ding, Li, Li, & Jiang, ; Ni, Ding, Li, Li, Liu, & Jiang, ; Zhang, Ding, Liu, Zhang, & Jiang, ), and Campylobacter (Soneja et al., ).…”

“…The incidence of severe wasting and stunted growth among children in regularly flooded regions in rural eastern India was significantly higher than among children in areas not regularly flooded (Rodriguez‐Llanes et al., ). There was a lower incidence of diarrheal diseases associated with those who lived with piped water and toilets in Cambodia (Davies et al., ).…”

The Canmore Declaration: Statement of Principles for Planetary Health

“…Planetary health is, according to the Report, predicated upon nutritious food supplies (less food waste and dietary patterns that decrease environmental pressures), clean water (used with less wastefulness), nutrient-dense soils (curbing soil degradation), maintenance of forests (curbing deforestation), family planning, city planning, and overall better governance (with an aim toward local, national and global policies that reduce environmental damage and promote health) [58]. Planetary health is at the nexus of urgent global concerns; worldwide, close to a billion people experience chronic hunger (with many more experiencing micronutrient deficiencies), and billions still lack safe drinking water, sanitation and/or household energy [59,60]; these pressing concerns-basic matters of health-are already being compounded in some regions by climate change [61].…”

Інфекційні Захворювання Під Час Повеней У Країнах Світу

“…У деяких спалахах після вживання молюсків виявлялось декілька збудників (до шести). Також описано спалахи, пов'язані з уживанням інфікованих устриць після дощів 1978 р. в Австралії (захворіло 2000 осіб); 1982 р. у Нью-Йорку (захворіло 1000 осіб) [13]. Marcheggiani et al встановили асоціацію між повенями, що відбулися в Італії, та різними інфекційними захворюваннями, пов'язаними з водою, зокрема на легіонельоз, сальмонельоз, гепатит А й інфекційну діарею [2].…”