, Uganda
Climate change remains the most significant global health threat of the 21st century, and the World Bank estimates that up to 132 million people will fall into poverty by 2030 due to direct health impacts of climate change, and approximately 1.2 billion people will be displaced by 2050. The World Health Organization estimates that between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress alone. In its Sixth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms that climate-related illnesses, premature deaths, malnutrition in all its forms, and threats to mental health and well-being are increasing.
The changing climate directly and indirectly impacts food security and quality; in addition, it also exacerbates nutrition crises. Besides, the escalating temperatures, floods, scorching droughts, and unprecedented precipitation changes all compound the spread of vector-borne diseases and other health effects, including respiratory and heart diseases, pest-related diseases like Lyme disease and West Nile Virus, water- and food-related illnesses, and injuries and deaths, which all have become apparent globally.
Without robust evidence-based global policies and actions that set concrete and holistic strategies and guidelines that should govern and propel the implementation and reception of health initiatives to new levels on a worldwide scale while addressing the intersection of climate change and health to ensure health equity for all, the impact of climate change on humanity’s very existence is imminent.
The health problems triggered by climate change are of global magnitude, thus drawing academic interest, industry concern, and the international community’s curiosity. The best way for global health to adapt to the changing climate while mitigating adverse climate problems remains an open and continuous debate, particularly in the context of mitigation and adapting global health to the changing climate.