Context:
• Climate change is increasingly being recognised as a major public health emergency, with wide-ranging impacts on disease patterns, air quality, and food security in India.
Key Highlights:
- Disease Burden & Health Risks
• Rise in waterborne diseases (cholera, typhoid) due to urban flooding and waterlogging
• Expansion of vector-borne diseases (dengue, malaria) into new regions like Himachal Pradesh
• Increased disease duration and transmission cycles due to changing climate patterns - Air Pollution & Heat Stress
• Higher PM2.5 levels leading to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases
• Increased air conditioning usage worsening pollution levels
• Rising night-time temperatures causing heat stress and reduced recovery time - Water & Food Security Impacts
• Water scarcity forcing reliance on unsafe water → diarrheal diseases
• Disruption of agriculture and crop cycles
• Decline in nutritional quality of food → micronutrient deficiencies - Vulnerable Populations
• Children, elderly, and urban poor most affected
• Communities with weak healthcare infrastructure face higher risks - Significance
• Links environmental degradation with human health outcomes
• Highlights need for climate-resilient healthcare systems
Relevant Prelims Points:
• PM2.5: Fine particulate matter (<2.5 microns) causing deep lung penetration
• Vector-borne Diseases: Diseases transmitted by vectors like mosquitoes (e.g., dengue, malaria)
• Heatwave: Period of abnormally high temperatures (IMD criteria)
• Micronutrient Deficiency: Lack of essential vitamins and minerals (e.g., iron, iodine)
• Urban Heat Island Effect: Higher temperatures in cities due to built environment
Relevant Mains Points:
- Health Impacts of Climate Change
- Increased disease burden and healthcare costs
- Emergence of new disease patterns
- Pressure on public health infrastructure
- Interlinkages with Development
- Climate impacts on water, sanitation, and nutrition
- Links with SDG 3 (Health), SDG 6 (Water), SDG 13 (Climate Action)
- Challenges
- Lack of climate-health integration in policy
- Weak surveillance systems for emerging diseases
- Inequitable access to healthcare
- Way Forward
- Integrate climate resilience into public health planning
- Strengthen early warning systems for diseases and heatwaves
- Promote sustainable urban planning and pollution control
- Improve nutrition and food security systems
UPSC Relevance:
• GS Paper III – Environment, Climate Change, Health
• GS Paper II – Public Health