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Killer heatwave risk 'is high'
Warmer winters and heatwaves brought about by climate change are likely to change patterns of mortality in the UK, according to a new government report.
The new publication from the Department of Health updates an earlier study from 2002. It points to the 2003 heatwave in continental Europe, which is thought to have killed over 14,000 people in France alone.
The report warns: 'There is a 1-in-40 chance that by 2012 South-East England will have experienced a severe heatwave that will cause perhaps 3,000 immediate heat-related deaths. In terms of conventional thinking about risks to health a risk of 1 in 40 is high.'
However, less frequent periods of extremely cold weather are likely to sustain the recent trend of fewer cold-related deaths in winter.
The report says that outbreaks of malaria are likely to remain rare, although health authorities will have to be on their guard for the arrival of different species of disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Health minister Dawn Primarolo said that climate change poses 'great challenges', and that planning for its impacts on health was important.
'Let's not forget we also have a societal role to play in the mitigation of climate change by supporting sustainable development programmes – through consumer choice, reducing our carbon footprints and recycling waste,' she added.
Category: Healthcare
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