The Health Impact of Extreme Weather Events in Sub-Saharan Africa

Extreme weather events are known to have serious consequences for human health and are predicted to increase in frequency as a result of climate change. Africa is one of the regions that risks being most seriously affected. This paper quantifies th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Wang, Limin, Kanji, Shireen, Bandyopadhyay, Sushenjit
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES ACCESS TO TREATMENT AGED AGING AMBIENT TEMPERATURE ANTENATAL CARE ARID ZONE ASCARIASIS BS BULLETIN BURDEN OF DISEASE CASES OF DIARRHEA CHILD DEATH CHILD DEATHS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY CHILD MORTALITY RATES CHILD SURVIVAL CHOLERA CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE CHANGES CLIMATE EFFECTS CLIMATE MODELS CLIMATE VARIABILITY CLIMATE VARIABLES CLIMATE VARIATION CLIMATE ZONES CLIMATIC CHANGE CLIMATIC REGIONS CLIMATIC ZONES CLINICS CULTURAL CHANGE DANGERS DENGUE DENGUE FEVER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DIARRHEA DIARRHEA CASES DIARRHEAL DISEASES DIARRHOEA DISABILITY DISEASE OUTBREAK DISEASE OUTBREAKS DISEASES DRACUNCULIASIS DRINKING WATER DROUGHT EARLY CHILDHOOD EARLY YEARS ELECTRICITY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EPIDEMIOLOGY EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS FEMALE EDUCATION FEMALES FLOODS FOOD POISONING GDP GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE GLOBAL WARMING GREENHOUSE GAS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS GRID GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROUNDWATER HAZARDS HEALTH BURDEN HEALTH CARE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH IMPACT HEALTH INDICATORS HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH POLICY HEALTH RISKS HEALTH SERVICES HEALTH SURVEYS HEALTHY LIFE HEAT WAVES HOOKWORM HOOKWORM INFECTION HOSPITAL HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN HEALTH HYDROLOGY ILLNESS IMPACT ON HEALTH IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATES INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY IPCC ISOLATION JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY LATRINES LOCAL POPULATION MALARIA MALARIA EPIDEMICS MALARIA TRANSMISSION MALNUTRITION MALNUTRITION AMONG CHILDREN MONSOON MORBIDITY MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY MORTALITY MORTALITY DECLINE MORTALITY RATE NATIONAL LEVEL NATURE OF HEALTH NEGOTIATIONS NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS PATHOGENS POLICY MAKERS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POOR HOUSEHOLDS POPULATION AGE STRUCTURE POPULATION CHANGE POPULATION DIVISION POPULATION GROWTH RATE POPULATION PROJECTIONS POPULATION STUDIES PRECIPITATION PRECIPITATION EVENTS PREVALENCE PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY RAIN RAINFALL RAINFOREST RAPID POPULATION GROWTH REPRODUCTIVE AGE RISK FACTORS RURAL AREAS SAFE WATER SAFETY NETS SANITATION SANITATION FACILITIES SCHISTOSOMIASIS SOCIAL AFFAIRS SOCIAL SCIENCE SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SOCIOECONOMIC VARIABLES STD STORMS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURE DATA TRACHOMA TRANSPORTATION TREATMENT TROPICAL MEDICINE URBANIZATION VACCINATION VIBRIO VICIOUS CYCLE VICTIMS VULNERABILITY VULNERABLE GROUPS WATER CONTAMINATION WATER LEVELS WATERBORNE DISEASE WEATHER WEATHER PATTERNS WEATHER VARIABILITY WET SEASON WOMAN WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION WORLD POPULATION YOUNG CHILDREN
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090629132300 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4171

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Summary:	Extreme weather events are known to have serious consequences for human health and are predicted to increase in frequency as a result of climate change. Africa is one of the regions that risks being most seriously affected. This paper quantifies the impact of extreme rainfall and temperature events on the incidence of diarrhea, malnutrition and mortality in young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The panel data set is constructed from Demographic and Health Surveys for 108 regions from 19 Sub-Saharan African countries between 1992 and 2001 and climate data from the Africa Rainfall and Temperature Evaluation System from 1980 to 2001. The results show that both excess rainfall and extreme temperatures significantly raise the incidence of diarrhea and weight-for-height malnutrition among children under the age of three, but have little impact on the long-term health indicators, including height-for-age malnutrition and the under-five mortality rate. The authors use the results to simulate the additional health cost as a proportion of gross domestic product caused by increased climate variability. The projected health cost of increased diarrhea attributable to climate change in 2020 is in the range of 0.2 to 0.5 percent of gross domestic product in Africa.

The Health Impact of Extreme Weather Events in Sub-Saharan Africa

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