SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

BSPH325: MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ASSIGNMENT 1

Surname: Nkhata

First Name: Chikongiwe

Student Number: BSPH19116475

E-mail Address: mwambazichiko504@gmail.com

Phone Number: 0979363311

Due Date: 10th April 2023

Lecturer’s Name: Mrs Rose Ng’andu

INTRODUCTION
The interplay between the atmosphere, ocean, land surface, and ice cover result in
climate. Changes in the equilibrium between incoming short-wave solar radiation and
outgoing long-wave terrestrial radiation near the edge of the Earth's atmosphere, for
example, might induce a shift in the global climate. While maintaining the diverse
natural and biological systems, climatic parameters naturally fluctuate around the
world without being immediately noticeable. In the recent 2-4 decades, however, this
volatility has gone beyond normal levels that climatologists are now in widespread
agreement that the world has begun to experience the process of global "climate
change". The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report
showed that human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, have increased
the atmospheric concentration of significant greenhouse gases, potentially warming
the surface of the globe (IPCC, 1996). According to McMichael (1993), who wrote
about "planetary overload," "climate change is currently endangering the
sustainability of human growth on the globe since it threatens the ecological support
systems on which life depends.
Although it is widely acknowledged that worldwide socioeconomic development and
health initiatives have raised the average standard of life recently, the deteriorating
global environmental conditions or other variables are now having an impact on
human health. Climate change and ozone depletion are two of the key worldwide
environmental changes that have a considerable impact on health, according to WHO
(1996) and McMichael (1996). Therefore, this paper will endeavor to discuss the
influence of climate change has on peoples health and give suggestions for
environmental resilience that will promote health and finally give a conclusion.

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH

The body can respond to thermal stress in healthy people thanks to an excellent
regulation heat system. In both the warm and cold ranges, temperatures above
tolerable limits significantly increase the risk of (mostly cardiopulmonary) disease
and mortality. The incidence of these heat-related illnesses and fatalities would
change directly in response to an increase in the mean summer and winter
temperatures. These diseases will also be significantly impacted by a rise in the
frequency or intensity of heat waves. Increases in the frequency of extreme weather
occurrences (droughts, floods, storms, etc.) would lead to higher rates of fatalities,
injuries, infectious diseases, and psychiatric disorders.
Additionally, changes in the production of cereal crops may have an impact on how
the global climate changes affect human health. Around 66% of all foods consumed
by humans are cereal grains (McMichael, 1996). These effects would take the form of
direct effects on germination, growth, and photosynthesis as well as indirect effects on
plant diseases, the connection between pests and predators, and irrigation water
supply. Changes in the spread of vector-borne diseases may likely turn out to be
another significant indirect effect on human health. Changes in temperature and
precipitation may have an impact on the geographic distribution and behavior of
vectors, changing the prevalence of vectorborne diseases, which are the leading
causes of morbidity and mortality in most tropical nations. Due to climate effects on
water distribution, temperature, and microbial proliferation, an increase in non-vector
borne infectious diseases including cholera, salmonellosis, and other food- and water-
related infectious diseases may arise, especially in tropical and sub-tropical
countries(Dhiman, 2018).

According to Nugent and Fottrell (2019), climate change will make it more common
for NCDs such heart disease, cancer, respiratory problems, mental illness, injuries,
and starvation (Cianconi et al., 2020). According to studies, being exposed to
temperatures at either extreme of the acceptable range increases the risk of cardio-
pulmonary death. The underlying physiological process for cardiovascular disease
(CVD) and pulmonary disease (bronchoconstriction) could be directly linked to
elevated blood pressure, viscosity, and heart rate (McMichael et al., 2003). Increased
temperatures reduce agricultural output in the less developed tropical regions, and if
global food production declines by more than 3°C, NCD risk will grow (The
Guardian, 2011). A wide range of risk factors for NCDs are strongly linked to
environmental exposures – and to climate change; hence, thecombination of climate
change, air pollution, and NCDs is among the most serious threats to global health
(Campbell-Lendrum and Prüss-Ustün, 2019).
Emerging infectious diseases are thought to be influenced by climate change, which
encourages the movement of people and animals, including the hosts and vectors of
various diseases (IPCC, 2014). It has the potential to undo the strides made in public
health over the past few decades. Global efforts over the past four decades have
lowered the burden of malaria, but dengue and other vector-borne illnesses,
particularly morbidity and mortality, have continued to climb, especially in the global
south (World Health Organization, 2012). Most recently, the Lancet Commission on
Climate Change and Health 2019 found that over the past few years, mosquito vectors
have become more suitable for transmitting diseases including malaria and dengue
(Watts et al., 2019). The geographic spread of disease vectors and subsequent
confirmed cases of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) in the high mountain regions of the
world support this conclusion made by the top group of public health researchers who
specialize in the effects of climate change on health. In general, it has been
determined that a rise in temperature will raise the VBD epidemic potential. The rate
at which disease vectors reproduce may also be impacted by increased precipitation.
Also, the rapid expansion of the host range and the ability of microbes to colonize
new hosts are both made possible by climate change.(Brooks et al., 2019).

SUGGESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS
 Public education, including in health-care settings such as clinics, hospitals.
Preventive programmes: E.g. vaccines, mosquito control, food hygiene and
inspection, and nutritional supplementation.
 Provision of health care (especially mental health promotion and primary care)
for communities affected by environmental adversity, for example drying
conditions in rural communities.
 Surveillance of disease, especially infectious disease and its key environmental,
social and biological risk factors for those diseases.
 Forecasting future health risks from projected climate change.
 Health sector workforce training (primary and incarer) to attune to climate-related
health risks.
 Education and mass media campaigns strong enough to spark commitment and
action among governments, international organizations, donors, civil society,
business and communities, especially among the young people to anchor health at
the heart of the climate change agenda.
 Creation of awareness and public understanding of the global and locally relevant
health consequences of climate change.
 Advocacy for interdisciplinary and intersectoral partnerships from the local to
international level that seek to improve health through rapid deployment of
 mitigation strategies to stabilize climate change and development of proactive
adaptation programmes to minimize health impact.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is quite evident that if our generation is to safeguard health from
climate change, we must start developing and implementing sustainable solutions in
all of our endeavors. In other words, the biosphere and its component ecosystems
should be preserved and productive as a result of our socioeconomic efforts to ensure
that life on earth can continue to rely on them for sustenance. The well-being of
communities is already threatened by climate change. That is a problem for our
support systems as well as the economy. The development of proactive adaptation
programs to reduce the effects of climate change on health and the rapid deployment
of mitigation strategies to stabilize climate change are essential components of
interdisciplinary and intersectoral partnerships that aim to improve health at all levels,
from the local to the global. We need to take action right away because of the
frightening rate of environmental change and the serious effects that climate change is
having on human health.
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