The relationship between climate and malaria transmission is complex and has been the subject of intense study for some three decades. Mosquito vector populations sufficient to maintain malaria transmission occur within a particular range of temperatures and humidity that are suitable for their survival and breeding. The parasite also needs suitable temperatures to complete its mosquito life stages. And...
Zambia has seen a surge in cholera cases since January 2024 with fatalities reaching 700, medical charity Doctors Without Borders said in a statement. The country has recorded nearly 20,000 infections since the outbreak started in October 2023. While at the beginning of the outbreak cases were restricted to Lusaka and Ndola , the two...
A recent study published in the journal Nature Geoscience presents evidence that shows that the burning of biomass fuel for cooking, heating, and lighting, the crude oil exploitation and coal mining industries, as well as old vehicles being shipped in from Europe are causing severe deterioration of air quality in African countries. According to the article, particulate matter concentration levels in many African...
New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) predict a 77% increase in cancer cases globally by 2050. The report points to air pollution as one of the factors driving the expected increase in cancer rates, even though it does not have the same effect on everyone. As a global health watchdog, the WHO rarely has good...
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the continent’s chief health advisory body, has tied the worst outbreak of cholera in three years to climate change, saying adverse weather is raising the risk of this disease faster than in the rest of the world. That’s as floods in Democratic Republic of Congo — and across...
The writer served as the first national climate adviser to the White House and is a former administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency.It is of course completely right that climate, economic and technical experts are included in every COP discussion, such as the one in the United Arab Emirates later this month. But only...
LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Climate change and conflict are hitting efforts to tackle three of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, the head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has warned. International initiatives to fight the diseases have largely recovered after being badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the...
As the planet warms, mosquitoes are slowly migrating upward.As the planet warms, mosquitoes are slowly migrating upward. The temperature range where malaria-carrying mosquitoes thrive is rising in elevation. Researchers have found evidence of the phenomenon from the tropical highlands of South America to the mountainous, populous regions of eastern Africa. Scientists now worry people living...