Health & Climate Change
By Dr Arvind Kumar
Climate change wields adverse impact on human health by giving rise to increased incidence of infectious and vector-borne diseases, especially in India and such a warming comes from a recently released report by the top scientists working in the US-based Environment Safety and Health Compliance Office of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Climate and Health Program, National Centre for Environmental Health. According to this report, cases of diseases like dengue and chikungunya are all set to rise. According to the report, there is possibility of increase in the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases, which are largely attributable to unsafe drinking water and lack of basic sanitation. However, diarrhoeal diseases are responsible for one-fourth of child deaths.
Factors like rapid urbanization and industrialization, burgeoning population and inefficient water use are already causing water shortages in India. Besides, climate change will aggravate the lack of available fresh water as annual mean rainfall decreases in many areas. The resultant impact will be augmentation in the incidence of water-borne diseases. In the present rat race for grabbing power, all political parties and leaders have ignored the critical issues of safe drinking water and sanitation and it is pitiable.
