Collaborators: Houriiyah Tegally, Stellenbosch, South Africa & Moritz Kraemer, Oxford, UK
Summary: Health consequences arising from climate change are threatening to offset advances made to reduce the burden of infectious diseases. The impact resulting from weather events and long-term gradual changes vary by region and the resilience of the local health system. In this review, we discuss the impact of climate on societal transformations, particularly human migration, as a response to extreme weather events and longer-term climate changes. Climate change-induced migrations and infectious disease burden are linked through various processes such as the expansion of pathogens into non-endemic areas, overcrowding in new informal settlements, the closer proximity of disease vectors and susceptible human populations, and encroachment into wildlife habitats. Countries that are predicted to have the highest burden of infectious diseases as a result of climate-related human migrations are the ones that made little contribution to climate change. Further studies are needed to generate robust evidence on the potential consequences of climate-induced human movements and migration, as well as identify effective short- and long-term interventions.
Activity type: Report and Review Paper
CLIMADE team: Africa, Europe