Potential Climate Change Impacts on Environmental Health Services: Perspectives from a Developing Country

Vishal Singh¹ and Emilie Joy Kistnasamy^1,

¹Department of Community Health Studies, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

Cite this paper

Vishal Singh and Emilie Joy Kistnasamy. Potential Climate Change Impacts on Environmental Health Services: Perspectives from a Developing Country. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2014; 2(3):113-118. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-2-3-9

Abstract

Climate change can be seen as a threat to sustainable development by undermining global poverty alleviation efforts and seriously impacting on successfully achieving the outcomes as envisaged by the Millennium Development Goals. There also exists severe implications for food security, clean water, environmental health and human settlements as the potential impacts of climate change bears much significance especially for the sustainable development of developing countries, such as South Africa. Therefore the role of the Environmental Health sector which is a key component in the protection of public health in South Africa, needs re-addressing as regards the potential impacts of climate change on Environmental Health Services. These potential impacts necessitates forward thinking on what adaptation measures should be considered by this sector, staffed primarily by Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs), and how can these then be implemented proactively – given that in the South African context, EHPs have a Government regulated scope of practice that covers fourteen key job functions. Therefore, this article for each key job function, considers potential impacts of climate change followed by a discussion of possible solutions and challenges. However, despite adequate awareness on climate change and its impacts, it is evident that there are many challenges, inclusive of immense financial, technical and human resource constraints, still ahead. Therefore, a systematic approach by EHPs to assess, prevent and control climate change impacts and other interacting public health issues is vital and will be crucial to protect the health of affected populations in the future.

Keywords

climate change, potential impacts, environmental health, developing country, south africa

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]	South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South African National Climate Change Response Strategy. Pretoria: Government Printer, 2004.
[2]	Environmental Health. World Health Organization (WHO). Available from: http://www.who.int/topics/environmental-health/en/ [Accessed 2nd May 2014].
[3]	Forest, S, and Feder, M.A, Climate Change Education Goals, Audiences, and Strategies: A Workshop Summary, National Academies Press. 2011. Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/durbanut/Doc?id=10531097&ppg=13 [Accessed 18th March 2014].
[4]	Fung, F., Lopez, A. and New, M, Modelling the Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, USA, 2010.
[5]	Delpla, I., Jung, A.V., Baures, E., Clement, M. and Thomas, O., “Impacts of Climate Change on Surface Water Quality in relation to Drinking Water Production,” Environment International, 35. 1225-1233.2009.
[6]	Smith, J, Climate Change and Water: International Perspectives on Mitigation and Adaptation, American Water Works Association, Denver, CO, USA, 2009.
[7]	Selendy, J. M. H., Water and Sanitation-Related Diseases and the Environment: Challenges, Interventions, and Preventive Measures, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, USA, 2011.
[8]	Van der Spiegel, M., Van der Fels-Klerx, H.J. and Marvin, H.J.P, “Effects of Climate Change on Food Safety Hazards in the Dairy Production Chain,” Food Research International, 46. 201-208. 2012.
[9]	Marques, A., Nunes, M.L., Moore, S.K. and Strom, M.S, “Climate Change and Seafood Safety: Human Health Implications,” Food Research International, 43. 1766-1779. 2010.
[10]	Marvin, H.J.P., Kleter, G.A., Van der Fels-Klerx, H.J., Noordam, M.Y., Franz, E., Willems, D.J.M, and Boxall, A, “Proactive systems for early warning of potential impacts of natural disasters on foodsafety: Climate-change-induced extreme events as case in point,” Food Control, 34. 444-456. 2013.
[11]	Tirado, M.C., Clarke, R., Jaykus, L.A., McQuatters-Gollop, A. and Frank, J.M, “Climate Change and Food Safety: A Review,” Food Research International, 43. 1745-1765. 2010.
[12]	Hester, R., Harrison, E. and Roy, M, Environmental and Health Impact of Solid Waste Management Activities. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2012.
[13]	Wasman, J, “Waste and Climate Change: Can appropriate management strategies contribute to mitigation?” Waste Management, 32. 1501-1502. 2012.
[14]	Polettini, A., “Waste and Climate Change: Can appropriate management strategies contribute to mitigation?” Waste Management, 32. 1501-1502. 2012.
[15]	Monni, S., “From Landfilling to Waste Incineration: Implications on GHG emissions of different actors,” International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 8. 82-89. 2012.
[16]	Booth, C., Hammond, F., Lamond, J, and Proverbs, D, Solutions for Climate Change Challenges in the Built Environment. Wiley-Blackwell, USA, 2011.
[17]	Younger, M., Morrow-Almeida, H.R., Vindigni, S.M. and Dannenberg, A.L, “The Built Environment, Climate Change, and Health Opportunities for Co-Benefits,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35 (5). 517-526. 2008.
[18]	Banta, J, Extreme Weather Hits Home: Protecting Your Buildings from Climate Change, New Society Publishers, Canada. 2007.
[19]	Ebi, K.L., “Managing the changing health risks of climate change,” Environmental Sustainability, 1. 107-110. 2009.
[20]	National Research Council, Committee on Climate, Ecosystems, Infectious Disease, and Human Health, Under the Weather: Climate, Ecosystems, and Infectious Disease, National Academic Press, USA, 2001.
[21]	Little, S.E., “Future challenges for parasitology: Vector control and one health in the Americas,” Veterinary Parasitology, 195. 249-255. 2013.
[22]	Banu, S., Hu, W., Guo, Y., Hurst, C. and Tong, S., “Projecting the impact of climate change on dengue transmission in Dhaka, Bangladesh,” Environment International, 63. 137-142. 2014.
[23]	Kilpatrick, A.M. and Randolph, S.E. “Drivers, dynamics, and control of emerging vector-bornezoonotic diseases,” Lancet, 380. 1946-1955. 2012.
[24]	Arjunan, N., Kadarkari, M., Pari, M., Thiyagarajan, N. and Kumar, S., “Impact of climate change on filarial vector, Culex quinquefasciatus and control using bacterial pesticide, spinosad,” Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease, 4 (1). 87-91. 2014.
[25]	Palutikof, J, Climate Adaptation Futures, Wiley-Blackwell, USA, 2013.
[26]	Holgate, C., “Factors and Actors in Climate Change Mitigation: A Tale of Two South African Cities,” Local Environment, 12 (5). 471-484.2007.
[27]	Maslin, M, Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, UK. 2004.
[28]	Masters, L. and Duff, L, Overcoming Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation Implementation in Southern Africa, Africa Institute of South Africa, SA, 2012.
[29]	Vinodkumar, B. and Bhasi, M., “Safety climate factors and its relationship with accidents and personal attributes in the chemical industry,” Safety Science, 47. 659-667. 2009.
[30]	Satarkar, A, Guidelines of Environmental Pollution and Control, Global Media. 2008. [E-book] Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/durbanut/Doc?id=10415116&ppg=72 [Accessed 5th March 2014].
[31]	Wilkinson, P, Environmental Epidemiology, McGraw-Hill Education, GBR, 2006.
[32]	Shaw, R., Pulhin, J, and Pereira, J, Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Volume 5: Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction: An Asian Perspective, Emerald Group Publishing, 2010. [E-book] Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/durbanut/Doc?id=10445342&ppg=439[Accessed 10th March 2014].
[33]	World Bank, Intensifying the Fight Against Malaria: The World Bank's Booster Program for Malaria Control in Africa, World Bank Publications, 2008. [E-book] Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/durbanut/Doc?id=10264158&ppg=30 [Accessed 10th March 2014].
[34]	World Health Organization, World Malaria Report, World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. [E-book] Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/durbanut/Doc?id=10411816&ppg=14 [Accessed 10th March 2014].