Pune, April 7 ( Representative) Human induced climate change is a grave and mounting threat to people’s well being and a healthy planet. The climate crisis is a health crisis, Dr Naresh Purohit, Advisor for National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH), said here on Thursday. On the occasion of World Health Day, renowned epidemiologist Dr Purohit told UNI here that WHO estimates more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes. This includes the climate crisis which is the single biggest health threat confronting humanity.
“Mosquitoes spread diseases farther and faster than ever before. Extreme weather events, land degradation and water scarcity are displacing people and affecting their health.” He pointed that climate change interacts with global trends such as unsustainable use of natural resources, growing urbanization, social inequalities, losses and damages from extreme events and a pandemic, jeopardizing future development. He said pollution and plastics are found at the bottom of oceans and highest mountains and have made their way into the food chain. He cautioned that systems that produce highly processed, unhealthy foods and beverages are driving a wave of obesity, increasing cancer and heart diseases while generating global greenhouse gas emissions.
He stated that in high-income countries, climate change is expected to have significant health impact, including enhanced risk of vector-borne diseases and an increased risk of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, floods and storm surges. The risks and impacts of climate change vary from country to country, and across regions of the world, largely as a result of differences in geographic location, cultural and socioeconomic context, and levels of development, he added.