New UK report identifies possible health effects of climate change

Citation

Morris, B. (2001), "New UK report identifies possible health effects of climate change", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214cab.007

New UK report identifies possible health effects of climate change

New UK report identifies possible health effects of climate change

Keywords: Health, Environment, United Kingdom

A report published by the UK Department of Health into the possible health effects of climate change in the UK identifies environmental factors that could affect the health of the population. The report was produced by the Expert Group on Climate Change and Health, which was established at the request of Ministers in 1999. The group included experts from the meteorological and climate changes fields, as well as from physiology, public health, epidemiology and microbiology.

The report, The Health Effects of Climate Change, has been published as a scientific review for comment. It is believed to be the first of its kind in Europe. The Department of Health will be reviewing the responses to the report, and will respond officially to the report at that stage.

The authors accept the difficulties of predicting the impact of climate change, but conclude that climate change will have significant effects, both positive and negative, on health in the UK. The report suggests that the NHS should cope well with the impact of climate change, given adequate planning and resources, and concludes that early action may mitigate many of the possible consequential health effects of change.

Some of the key predictions of the report are:

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  cold-related winter deaths are likely to decrease substantially, by perhaps 20,000 per annum;

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  heat-related summer deaths are likely to increase, by around 2,800 cases per annum;

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  cases of food poisoning are likely to increase significantly, by perhaps 10,000 cases per annum;

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  insect-borne diseases may present local problems, but the increase in their overall impact is likely to be small;

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  water-borne diseases may increase, but the overall impact is likely to be small;

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  the risk from disasters caused by severe winter gales and coastal flooding is likely to increase;

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  in general, the effects of air pollutants on health are likely to decline but the effects of ozone during the summer are likely to increase: several thousand extra deaths and a similar number of hospital admissions may occur each year;

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  cases of skin cancer are likely to increase by up to 5,000 cases per year and cataracts by 2,000 cases per year; and

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  measures taken to reduce the rate of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions could produce secondary beneficial effects on health.

Action taken in the UK since 1990 has significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The Government and the devolved administrations have developed a substantial programme of integrated policies and measures which aim to:

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  improve business's use of energy, stimulate investment and cut costs;

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  stimulate new, more efficient sources of power generation;

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  cut emissions from the transport sector;

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  promote better energy efficiency in the domestic sector;

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  improve the energy efficiency requirements of the Building Regulations;

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  ensure the public sector plays a leading role in reducing energy consumption and emissions.

The report recommends that the Government's current work programme on climate change should be continued and expanded, particularly the work of the UK Climate Impacts Programme. The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) was established by the Government in 1997 to co-ordinate and integrate a stakeholder-led assessment of the impacts of climate change at a regional and national level. The programme recognises the need to adapt to climate change, however successful we are at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. UKCIP developed a set of scenarios for climate change which provide a common basis to identify adaptation priorities for the UK to inform the development of adaptation strategies. The first three years work within UKCIP are reported in the UKCIP report Climate Change: Assessing the Impacts – Identifying Responses.

Copies of The Health Effects of Climate Change can be obtained from Dr Robert Maynard at the Department of Health. Tel: (44) 0207 972 5118. Arrangements are being made to put the report on the Department's Web site at www.doh.gov.uk. Copies of the UKCIP report are available from the UKCIP Programme Office or alternatively a summary report can be downloaded from the UKCIP Web site at http://www.ukcip.org.uk/ukcip.html