New Delhi, Vivek Tiwari / Dengue continues to wreak havoc across the country. According to WHO statistics, 400 million people worldwide are affected by dengue every year. People are still facing the horrors of Corona. On the other hand, due to diseases like malaria, smallpox, measles, a large number of people still get absorbed in the cheeks of time. Recent reports suggest that due to climate change changes in temperature and humidity, pathogenic diseases such as Influenza, Measles, Corona, Dengue, Malaria, etc. will increase the infection of the world by 58 percent more rapidly. Scientists believe that along with making the common people aware, the government needs to take immediate steps to prevent these diseases keeping in mind the climate change.
Scientists believe that due to the effects of climate change, infectious diseases will increase rapidly in the coming times. In a report published in the famous journal Nature, American researchers have claimed that out of about 375 infectious diseases known so far, 58 percent (about 218 diseases) have become very serious. Due to climate change, the risk of rapid spread of these diseases has increased. In the coming days, these diseases will not only create difficulties for the health of the people, but they will also cause economic loss on a large scale. A large number of people lost their lives due to COVID-19, with the US alone spending nearly $16 trillion to deal with the disease.
According to researcher Camilo Mora of the Department of Geography and Environment of the University of Hawaii, US, involved in the research, the burden of diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Zika, Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, Influenza, Ebola, MERS and SARS kills millions of people in the world every year. Is. According to this study, 277 infectious diseases can further increase the dangers of climate change arising from greenhouse gas emissions. This study suggests that urgent steps are needed to prevent climate change and greenhouse gas emissions to prevent infectious diseases.
Climate change increases infectious diseases
Rising temperatures due to climate change promote infectious diseases. Combined global efforts over the past 4 decades have reduced malaria cases around the world, but deaths from other vector-borne diseases, especially dengue, have increased. The Lancet, in its Climate Change and Health 2019 report, had revealed that there has been an increase in mosquito-borne diseases (malaria and dengue) over the years. Studies show that the high mountains of South Asia have spread infectious diseases more rapidly due to higher rainfall and rising temperatures. Due to excessive rains, mosquitoes have been helped in breeding in these hilly areas. Also, rising temperature accelerates their life cycle.
Environmental factors such as uneven rise in temperature in high mountains, less snowfall, extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, increase in agricultural and agricultural activities in mountain slopes and increase in access and mobility of people in the Hindukush and Himalaya (HKH) region is already significant. have increased more. These changes observed in the HKH region over the past few decades have increased the risk of transmission of infectious diseases.
Dr Ramesh Dhiman, Principal Investigator of the Center of Excellence for Climate Change and Vector Borne Diseases at ICMR, explains that organisms that cause water-borne and vector-borne diseases are climate-sensitive. The growth and survival of disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes, sand flies, bed bugs depends on temperature and humidity. These disease carriers can spread diseases like Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, Kala-azar very fast. In the coming times, it is possible that due to climate change, some areas where there was no particular infectious disease, suddenly the disease started spreading. The impact of climate change will not be geographically uniform as different climatic zones have different climatic features. The Himalayan region in India, for example, is highly vulnerable to climate change because the rise in temperature has made regions with cooler temperatures more vulnerable to malaria and dengue. The southern part of the country is likely to be less affected as the climate is already suitable for vector-borne diseases for almost all 12 months.
Climate change will increase the number of floods. Floods cause stagnation of water bodies where mosquitoes can breed excessively and spread diseases such as malaria and Japanese encephalitis. The increased humidity also creates favorable conditions for vectors such as mosquitoes and bed bugs. The outbreak of malaria in Rajasthan is related to excessive rainfall in particular months of the year. Drought in some areas also creates favorable conditions for disease-carrying insects as river beds create better conditions for mosquitoes to breed. Mosquitoes are killed by extreme temperatures and they die after a short period of time after rapid emergence. Therefore, it is expected that in areas that are currently experiencing very high temperatures (Odisha, parts of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh), with further increase in temperature, the burden of diseases such as malaria may decrease.
Climate change increased more than 200 infectious diseases
Dr Shrey Srivast, MD (General Medicine), Sharda Hospital
Side effects are being seen. It is worth noting that diseases caused by climate change can be controlled through better health plans. The Government of India has taken several steps in this direction.
Bengali