The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change 2019: Policy brief on humanitarian impacts

The 2019 edition of The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change was launched on November 13, in conjunction with a series of policy briefs, including the Policy Brief on Humanitarian Impacts. Two Dahdaleh Institute researchers, Carol Devine and Linn Biorklund Belliveau, contributed. Devine acted as co-author and Biorklund Belliveau wrote “Case Study: Geopolitical Aspects of Humanitarian Crises.”

The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an international research collaboration dedicated to tracking the world’s response to climate change and how it effects global health. Reporting annually since 2015, the project measures a set of indicators which speak to the progress made and the progress we have yet to make.

Introduction

Human-induced climate change and environmental degradation is linked to profound and increasing health impacts. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical humanitarian teams around the world witness and respond to population and individual level health impacts that are in many cases likely exacerbated by climate change. This includes, for example, increased transmission of infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue and cholera; water scarcity and food insecurity, leading to malnutrition; impacts of heat exposure including acute dehydration leading to acute kidney failure or heat stroke, or exacerbation of cardiovascular conditions. Mental health can also be impacted, especially due to extreme weather events and population displacement, including in urban centres

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