Download Global Health Challenges and environmental determinants

GLOBAL HEALTH CHALLENGES AND
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANTS
Malaria and Climate Change
Name: Jaylen Taubman
Student Number: S2946924
Course Code: 1205MED
Word Count: 816
Malaria is one of the world’s most recognized infectious disease, each year affecting
the health of millions of people globally. Among the environmental determinants which
influence Malaria, climate change is thought to be one determinant in which can have a
significant impact on this health burden. This essay aims to exemplify the health implications
of climate change and how this contributes to the development and increase of several
harmful diseases, mainly malaria.
Malaria is a major health burden and the world’s most significant vector-Bourne
disease. A parasite called Plasmodium is what causes malaria, infected female Anopheles
mosquitoes transmit the disease by biting. Once someone is bitten the parasite multiplies in
the liver of their host, and then contaminates red blood cells. (WHO, 2015). Malaria is
currently prevalent in 108 countries and 3.3 billion people are at risk of developing the
disease. In 2010 an estimated 216 million people were infected by malaria and there were
655, 000 deaths. This lethal disease is most common in Africa, where 90% of all malaria
deaths occur. 78% of these deaths occurred in children aged under 5 (White et al, 2014).
Malaria is immensely sensitive to the climate , and thrives in tropical, warm regions. There is
an important balance of temperature, rainfall and humidity that produces an optimal condition
for mosquitos to bread and transmit malarial parasites (Ivanovich, 2014). Therefore it is
evident that climate change is a key determinant contributing to this disease.
The climate and weather conditions are known to have a significant impacts on health.
Varying weather conditions affect the average weather circumstances that people are
accustomed to. Warmer temperatures can lead to an increase of heat-related illnesses and
deaths, for instance stroke. Warmer temperatures can also cause a rise in the amount of
harmful water and air pollutants. Additionally temperature variations, rainfall patterns, and
extreme weather events could increase the infection rate of several diseases. Floods and
Heavy rainfall can cause an increase in water contamination by parasites like
Cryptosporidium and Giardia. These parasites can cause gastrointestinal distress and possibly
death (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014). Dengue, Malaria and Viral Encephalitides
are all mosquito transmitted diseases and are amongst the diseases most sensitive to climate
change (JAMA, 1996).
There are several amounts evidence suggesting that climate change is a significant
environmental determinant contributing to malaria. According to the World Health
Organisation Malaria is thought to be the most sensitive vector-bourne disease in relation to
climate change (WHO, 2015). The association between climate change and malaria has been
analysed in India for several years. Floods that occurred in the Punjab region experienced
severe malaria epidemics (Climate Change and Infectious Diseases, 2014). High humidity
and excessive rainfall was identified as a significant contributor to the malaria outburst. As
stated by the World Health Organisation this dramatic change in climate provided optimal
conditions for mosquito breeding and survival and caused an increase in people being
affected by malaria. Furthermore malaria modelling conducted by the World Health
Organisation illustrates that minor temperature rises can significantly increase transmission
potential. If temperature rises of only 2-3ºC were to occur around the world, a 35% increase
in the number of people becoming infected who live in malaria prone regions such as Africa
could be seen (Climate Change and Infectious Diseases, 2014). In addition, the International
governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that climate change can cause
prolonged transmission seasons for malaria in regions of Africa and increase the disease’s
geographic range. They also state that as temperatures Increase, the Plasmodium parasite in
the mosquito reproduces more rapidly and the mosquitos feeding frequency will increase
(Intergovernmental panel on climate change, 2007). Finally, recent studies published by
Science, say Ethiopia, a historically cool region year round, has experienced warmer years.
To test if malaria incidents have been affected by the climate differences, they analysed
records of malaria cases from 1993 to 2005 with data of the temperature from each of those
years. They found that the disease reached significantly higher altitudes than in previous
cooler years. For instance In Ethiopia’s Debre Zeit district an increase in 1 degrees led to
2,100 more incidents in the transmission season (Siraj et al. 2014). Mercedes Pascual, coauthor of the study stated "This is indisputable evidence of a climate effect.”
Malaria has been a major global concern for hundreds of years. Due to its
significantly high death rate and horrific effects on humanity, malaria is deemed to be one of
the world’s most lethal diseases. As this essay has demonstrated the climate is a key
determinant contributing to the severity of malaria. It is evident that there is a strong
correlation between malaria and climate change and with the planets increase in temperature
and extreme weather events it is likely to see an increase in the amount of people affected by
this disease as warm and wet climates are the optimal conditions for mosquito reproduction,
survival and feeding.
Reference List
Intergovernmental panel on climate change. (2007). Climate Change 2007: Working Group
II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Retrieved 15 August, 2015, from
https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch8s8-4-1-2.html.
Ivanovich, E. (2014). Nothingbutnetsnet. Retrieved 13 August, 2015, from
http://www.nothingbutnets.net/blogs/the-connection-between-climate-change-andmalaria.html
Siraj et al.. (2014). Altitudinal Changes in Malaria Incidence in Highlands of Ethiopia and
Colombia. Science, 343 no (17), 6175 pp. 1154-1158, doi: 10.1126/science.124432.
United states environmental protetive agency. (2010). Climate Impacts on Human Health.
Retrieved 15 August, 2015, from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impactsadaptation/health.html.
White et al.. (2014). Malaria. The Lancett, 383(9918), .
World Health Organisation,. (2014). Climate Change and Human Health (pp. Chapter 6 Pg
16-17).
World health organisation. (c2015). Malaria. Retrieved 13 August, 2015, from
http://www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/.
World Health Organisation,. (2015). World Malaria Report 2014. Retrieved from
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/144852/2/9789241564830_eng.pdf · PDF file.