Climate change could increase spread of diseases

[Nairaland]

BOOK INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS TICKETS LOCAL FLIGHTS HOTELS BOOKINGS WORLDWIDE AND MORE AT CHEAPEST RATE EVER! CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR FLIGHT AND RECEIVE YOUR FLIGHT TICKET INSTANTLY

The World Health Organization says ?urgent action? is needed to research how climate change is affecting malaria and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Rising temperatures are changing how vector-borne diseases ? diseases spread by the bite of infected insects ? are spread, the WHO said in a press release last week.

Climate change expands the geographic range of vectors like mosquitos, increasing the likelihood that diseases like malaria will spread to new, unprepared areas, it added.

The health organization said a review published by its task team on climate change, NTDs and malaria highlights that there is not enough data to predict the effects of climate change on malaria and NTDs.

The review analyzed more than 42,000 articles. Researchers found that some diseases like malaria were well-studied, but others have not been sufficiently examined.

?This important and timely review reveals alarming trends and is a call to urgent action,? said the leader of the study, Dr. Ibrahima Soc? Fall, director of the WHO?s global NTD program. ?If we are to protect and build upon the hard-won victories of the past two decades, the time to mobilize is now.?