Investor Presentaiton
HEALTH IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Heat stress
Climate change is expected to increase the mean annual temperature and the intensity and frequency
of heat waves, resulting in a greater number of people at risk of heat-related medical conditions.
Heat waves, i.e. prolonged periods of excessive heat, can pose a particular threat to human, animal
and even plant health, resulting in loss of life, livelihoods, socioeconomic output, reduced labour
productivity, rising demand for and cost of cooling options, as well as contribute to the deterioration
of environmental determinants of health (e.g. air quality, soil, water supply).
Heat stress impacts include:
.
heat rash/heat cramps
⚫ dehydration
• heat exhaustion/heat stroke
⚫ death.
Particularly vulnerable groups are:
.
.
•
the elderly
⚫ children
⚫ individuals with pre-existing conditions (e.g. diabetes)
the socially isolate.
Infectious and vector-borne diseases
The report "Impact of Climate Change on Human Health in the
Dominican Republic: Case Study", a contribution prepared in
the framework of technical cooperation with the United Nations
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC) and the Support of the Technical Support Group/ECLAC of
the Project Socio-Economic Impact of Climate Change and Policy
Options in Central America and the Dominican Republic, Inter-
American Development Bank (IDB)/Nordic Development Fund
(NDF), within the framework of the Third National Communication
on Climate Change (TCNCC), produced the following results on
the national situation of vector-borne diseases (16).
In the Dominican Republic, dengue is endemic and occurs with
greater intensity between the months of June and October, in the
rainy season. All dengue virus serotypes have been isolated (17).
Malaria is endemic in the country and the causative agent in
all cases is Plasmodium faciparum, sensitive to chloroquine
treatment. The annual increase in the number of cases have been
related to climatic phenomena. The number of cases decreased
from 3525 in 2006 to 1838 in 2008.
In 2010, 1643 cases were detected, and 200 670 sheets were
examined, resulting in a positive sheet index of 0.58%; 65% of
the cases corresponded to the male sex and the most affected
age group was 10-49 years (74%). Outbreaks were associated
with movements of migrant groups of temporary workers linked
to agriculture and construction. The national malaria control
programme reports an upward trend since 2009 in the imported
cases of malaria from people from Haiti.
ILLUSTRATION 1: Diseases
associated with climatic variations
(TCNCC, 2017) (15)
EXISTENCE AND INCREASE IN THE
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OF
THE FOLLOWING DISEASES
ZIKA
DENGUE
CHIKUNGUNYA
DUE TO THE CHANGE IN
TEMPERATURE AND THE AVERAGE
AND EXTREME PRECIPITATION
Health and Climate Change Country ProfileView entire presentation