- Prelims: Current events of national importance, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Nipah virus, The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) etc
- Mains GS Paper I & II: Development and management of social sectors/services related to Health and education etc
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- The latest report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivers a stark warning: climate change heightens the global risk of infectious diseases.
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
Health:(WHO)
- A certain totality of health to the realms of mental and social well-being and happiness beyond physical fitness, and an absence of disease and disability.
- We cannot achieve health in its wider definition without addressing health determinants.
Changed pattern of relationship between climate and diseases:
- The periodicity of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks no longer follows expected patterns.
- Dengue manifests in two to three peaks throughout the year.
- Variability in temperature, precipitation, and humidity disrupt disease transmission cycles.
- These alter the distribution of the vectors and animal reservoirs that host the parasite.
- Heat interferes with the genomic structure of pathogens, changing their infectivity and virulence.
How can Climate change lead to more infections?
- Habitat loss forces disease-carrying animals to encroach upon human territory
- It increases the risk of human-animal interaction and the transfer of pathogens from wildlife to humans.
- Viruses which do not harm animals can be fatal for humans.
- Nipah virus(outbreaks in Kerala for many years now, is a good example.
- Analysis of 2022 published in Nature Climate Change warns that humans now face a broader spectrum of infectious agents than ever before.
- Over half of all-known infectious diseases threatening humans worsen with changing climate patterns.
- Diseases often find new transmission routes, including environmental sources, medical tourism, and contaminated food and water from once-reliable sources.
- Ecosystems shape local climates, climate change is transforming ecosystems.
- This dynamic introduces invasive species and extends the range of existing life forms.
- The trigger upheavals in ecosystems confound ecologists and epidemiologists to predict outbreaks.
- The climatic shifts are manifesting in severe health crises, including a dengue epidemic in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kolkata
Impact on India:
- The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) was rolled out in a few States in 2007.
- It reported 553 outbreaks in 2008, it last reported 1,714 in 2017.
- It was phased out in favor of a web-enabled, near-real-time electronic information system called Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP).
- It added 20 additional disease conditions over IDSP 13
- It could present disaggregated data to its users.
- The programme, which has enabled real-time tracking of emerging disease outbreaks, has not delivered on expectations.
One Health approach:
- It integrates monitoring human, animal, plant, and environmental health, recognises this interconnectedness.
- It is pivotal in preventing outbreaks, especially those that originate from animals.
- It encompasses zoonotic diseases, neglected tropical diseases, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental contamination.
Way Forward
- Mitigating the spread of climate change-induced diseases requires safeguarding ecosystems, curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and implementing active pathogen surveillance.
- India must launch One Health and infectious disease control programmes by building greater synergies between the Centre and States and their varied specialized agencies.
- Animal husbandry, forest and wildlife, municipal corporations, and public health departments need to converge and set up robust surveillance systems.
- They will need to build trust and confidence, share data, and devise logical lines of responsibility and work with a coordinating agency.
- With new World Bank and other large funding in place, this will need greater coordination and management.
- Climate change is not limited to infectious diseases: It exacerbates injuries and deaths from extreme weather events, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and mental health issues.
- The re-emergence of Nipah in Kerala is a wake-up call, that mere biomedical response to diseases is inadequate.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
Besides being a moral imperative of the Welfare State, primary health structure is a necessary precondition for sustainable development.” Analyze.(UPSC 2021) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
