Climate change will affect vulnerable people’s health most

The elderly, the sick, the very young and disadvantaged Australians are most likely to suffer health problems as the climate changes, according to a new report released today by the Australian Academy of Science.

Climate Change Challenges to Health: Risks and Opportunities has been endorsed by the Australian Medical Association. It examines the five major pressures on health that Australia will face as global temperatures rise and climates change. They include the health impacts of extreme weather events, changing patterns of disease, disruptions to food and water supplies, loss of livelihoods and increased threats to security.

The report found that these will exert the highest pressure on those people who are already the most vulnerable.  

The report makes eight high-level recommendations for Australia to alleviate these impacts and better adapt to a changing climate. They include:   

• Measures to identify those most at risk and create programs and early warning systems to prevent adverse health impacts for the sick, the elderly, the poor, and people living in remote communities
• Better national coordination of adaptation strategies through a new National Centre for Disease Control and a new National Food and Water Commission
• Encouraging individuals and organisations to take early action to help those affected in their communities  

“Human health is where we’ll see some of the most immediate impacts of a changing climate,” said one of the contributors to the report and Fellow of the Academy, Professor Bruce Armstrong. 

“Whether it be more heatwaves, tropical diseases moving to new areas, or lost jobs in farming, fishing and tourism; these are all directly linked to costs for health and mental health.

The inequalities that already exist in society are likely to widen, as more advantaged groups are able to adapt better to this different world.”  

The report and its 22 detailed recommendations are based on discussions between world experts and 60 early- and mid-career researchers at a Think Tank convened by the Academy with support from the Theo Murphy (Australia) Fund in Brisbane last year.