World

Climate Change Will Fuel Diseases Like Malaria & TB, Kill People: Global Fund

New Delhi: Climate change will end up killing people by fuelling infectious diseases, the head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said on Tuesday.  Executive director Peter Sands said that in 2022, the fund had witnessed the “escalating impact” of climate change on health, The New Indian Express reported quoting AFP.

While upsurges in malaria had hitherto been seen due to the increasing frequency and devastation of tropical storms, “with the flooding in Pakistan it was taken to a completely different scale,” he said. “What we are seeing is that the mechanism by which climate change will end up killing people is through its impact on infectious disease.”

Sands said that parts of Africa which previously were unaffected by malaria are now becoming at risk as temperatures rise and allow mosquitos to thrive, notably at higher altitudes. However, the population in such areas will not have immunity, with the resulting risk of a higher mortality rate. “It’s quite alarming,” Sands told a briefing with the UN correspondents’ association.

Other threats include tuberculosis spreading among the increasing number of displaced people around the world. “TB is a disease that thrives on having concentrations of highly-stressed people in close confines with inadequate food and shelter,” he said. “The more that we see climate change-driven displacement of people, the more I think that will translate into the conditions that will at least make it more likely.”

Sands also said food insecurity would make people more vulnerable to disease. As for whether the world was better prepared for the next pandemic than it was for Covid-19, Sands said it was, but added: “That doesn’t mean we are well prepared: we’re just not as badly prepared as we were before.”

By the end of 2022, Sands said the Global Fund will have invested around USD 5.4 billion, which is significantly more than it has ever done before. The Geneva-based organisation’s largest donors are G7 governments, led by the United States and France. “For the people we serve in the poorest, most marginalised, most vulnerable communities in the world, 2022 was a brutal year. In the poorest communities in the world, HIV, TB and malaria are killing many more people than Covid-19,” said Sands.

OB Bureau

Recent Posts

[Watch] Fateh Trailer: Netizens Call It Sonu Sood Starrer Desi ‘John Wick’

Mumbai: The makers of the Sonu Sood starrer ‘Fateh’ released a thrilling, action-packed trailer of…

19 minutes ago

Centre Scraps ‘No Detention Policy’ For Class 5, 8 Students; Check New Rules

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday scrapped the 'no-detention policy' for Class 5 and 8…

23 minutes ago

Hit & Run Case: Speeding Car Injures Seven In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: In a hit and run case, seven persons including a woman were critically injured…

27 minutes ago

Odisha Govt Targets 7.5 GW Of Solar Energy Production By 2030, Says Dy CM

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is committed towards achieving 7.5 GW of solar energy by 2030…

42 minutes ago

Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions Hint At Ranbir-Deepika Starrer ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani 2’

Mumbai: Dharma Productions new social media post has left netizens speculating about a sequel to…

57 minutes ago

Asma Files For Divorce From Bashar al-Assad, But Will UK Welcome Her?

Bhubaneswar: Asma al-Assad, wife of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has reportedly filed for divorce…

1 hour ago

This website uses cookies.