APHDR Technical Background Paper 2012/16

English

pdf (1MB)

Download

APHDR Technical Background Paper 2012/16

June 17, 2015

Climate change threatens human health. A report from The Lancet, the world’s leading general medical journal, declared climate change as “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” While climate change affects the world over, the Asia-Pacific region stands particularly vulnerable to its adverse consequences where more than half (or 56 percent) of the world’s estimated 7 billion population and nearly two-thirds of the world’s poor live. In the 1990s, Asia-Pacific accounted for 32 percent of global extreme climatic events, 84 percent of deaths caused by such events and 88% of people affected worldwide. Women are ‘the most vulnerable to climate change’and its negative health consequences in developing countries. It is estimated that the mortality risk of women during disasters is 14 times higher than that of men. Poor women, who constitute the majority of the poor in the Asia-Pacific region, are particularly vulnerable to climate sensitive health risks.

This paper explores available data on the observed and projected linkages between climate change and health in the Asia-Pacific region. It highlights key health risks and vulnerabilities due to climate change and extreme climatic events, including infectious diseases, injuries, and other morbidities. Particular health vulnerabilities of women and girls to climate change impacts, along with other vulnerable populations, are also examined.

Document Type
Regions and Countries