Ntando Makhubu
HEALTH officials are gearing up for a possible wave of diseases as a result of extreme weather conditions.
The SA Medical Association (Sama) warned yesterday of a surge in vector-borne and water-related diseases which would result from the fast-rising temperature and rainfall or humidity patterns.
Chairperson Dr Mzukisi Grootboom said with five provinces already declared disaster areas, doctors expected increases in malaria, dysentery, cholera and dengue fever. “There will also be compromised drinking water, loss in production and food security, and an increase in extreme weather events,” he said.
He said the country faced a desperate climate change emergency situation, with heatwaves above 40ºC already common and persistent.
Grootboom spoke days after weather experts warned about the heat conditions brought about by the El Niño phenomenon. El Niño, they said, was associated with drought conditions defined as less than long-term average rainfall.
The experts warned of more drought and dry conditions as a result of El Niño, saying the phenomenon’s presence last year was what was taking the country through the hottest and most extreme weather conditions ever experienced.
Scientists from the SA Weather Service, CSIR, universities and other organisations said last week this was the hottest season in the 150-year history of weather measurement.
However, it was yet to rise above the 38ºC recorded in South Africa last year on a day in which the country was the hottest in the world.
The drought has affected many parts of the country, leaving many without adequate water resources.
The North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Free State have been declared disaster areas by an interministerial task team looking into drought and water shortage interventions.
The national Health Department confirmed that it had activated resources to counter the consequences of climate change.
Departmental spokesperson Popo Maja said: “Our health promotion teams are on the ground, conscientising people about the dangers of the situation.” Health departments in those provinces were on the lookout for consequential diseases, he said.
Sama pledged to work in collaboration with the national departments of Health and Environmental Affairs in fighting the floods, droughts and heatwaves which were expected.
“Human health is a priority sector in responding to climate change and we commend the government for identifying it as such.”
Urgent, practical measures were called for given that the World Health Organisation and the Climate and Health Council were drawing increasing attention to the catastrophic impact of climactic shifts on human health.
“The role of health care professionals cannot be over emphasised.”
Maja said water was fast becoming a scarce resource and the next world war could be about water.