The latest Lancet climate report says India needs to take some important steps to curb the growing risk of heat-related health impacts, with targeted interventions for vulnerable groups and changes to working hours, especially outdoor work people.
The report, an annual publication that tracks the impact of global climate on human health, noted that health-threatening hot weather in India is becoming increasingly persistent. The report says that by 2023, everyone in the country will be exposed to at least 2,400 hours, equivalent to 100 days, of high temperatures, which could lead to moderate to severe heat-related illness.
“Strengthening public health systems and sector-specific cooling plans, including modified working hours, can reduce heat exposure and prevent health impacts. In addition, financial support for industry-wide adaptation is urgently needed,” the report said of India.
The Lancet Countdown to 2024 report on health and climate change noted that 10 of the 15 indicators used to monitor health hazards related to global climate change reached “new records.”
In India, in addition to heat-related disease risks, the report points to potential health impacts such as increased flooding events, increased vulnerability to infectious diseases, and high levels of air pollution, all of which are exacerbated by climate change. But the biggest risk comes from high temperatures, which cost about 181 billion potential labor hours last year, a 50% increase from the 1990-1999 annual average, the report said.
Dilip Mavalankar, former director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, told The Indian Express that there is an urgent need to formulate heat action plans in every town and implement them with full force.
“The government must provide adequate budget for this. We should learn from the Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan, which has been implemented since 2013 and has shown positive results in reducing mortality; this has been documented in published scientific papers record,” he said.
Pournima Prabhakaran, director of the Center for Health Analytics Research and Trends at Ashoka University’s Trivedi School of Biological Sciences and a co-author of the India policy brief in the report, said heat and flood-related diseases and the growing burden of climate-sensitive infectious diseases requires urgent strategic measures that are data-centric and decentralized.
“Existing and new financing mechanisms must be unlocked to develop and scale up sector-specific heat and flood adaptation plans. Timely identification of heat, flood and vector-borne disease hotspots through innovative modeling techniques will aid the development of action plans. development and its implementation. The costs of climate inaction can be catastrophic and only collective measures can mitigate India’s climate crisis,” she said.
The report said that about 38% of the nearly 1.6 million deaths caused by air pollution in 2021 can be attributed to the high use of fossil fuels. The report noted that the share of renewable energy in India’s energy mix is rising, but said more needs to be done.
“Repurposing fossil fuel subsidy funds to incentivize the expansion and affordability of low-carbon electricity and health-promoting interventions will deliver net benefits to local residents and support a just transition,” the report said.
But Kalpana Balakrishnan, director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research in Chennai, said the energy transition needs to be handled very carefully.
“We all recognize the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. However, the transition to clean energy must be managed in an equitable and inclusive manner. It cannot come at the expense of essential energy supplies for the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities,” she said.
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