Climate change and public health

Climate scientists and activists have long alerted the world to the perils of climate change that extend far beyond melting glaciers and rising temperatures. When the equilibrium of the planet is disturbed, its ripple effects reach every facet of life - especially public health. Over the span of four years, nearly one million infectious disease cases have been found in just three coastal districts of Pakistan.

A new study on Thatta, Sujawal and Badin districts of Sindh has confirmed an old suspicion of residents: disease outbreaks in these delta communities are aligned with the calendar of monsoons and heatwaves, synthesising with the decades-old problems of hygiene and limited hospital capacity. As temperature, humidity and rainfall rise, so do diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid and dysentery. Climate change in Pakistan has stopped being a distant threat long ago but now it's showing up as a present, measurable public health emergency which rings even louder warning bells for policymakers.

The tragedy of infectious diseases is further compounded by inequity. These regions are among Sindh's poorest districts where clean drinking water remains scarce, and sanitation infrastructure is decades behind. A lot of communicable diseases are waterborne, spread by impure water. Therefore, when floods strike - as they did devastatingly in 2022 - these communities are hit twice. First, by the treacherous water, then by the diseases it leaves behind.

Although it is encouraging that researchers have identified an actionable path forward, its efficacy is solely dependent on the government's willingness to adopt it consistently. It can start by integrating meteorological forecasting directly into public health surveillance, allowing districts to become proactive in dealing with outbreaks. Medical supplies, oral rehydration salts and antimalarials must also be made available ahead of the monsoon season. And the infrastructure in such regions must also be treated as a health priority rather than an urban development.