Tuberculosis Risk Factors Exacerbated by Climate Change

A doctor talks to a TB survivor at a clinic in Manilla, Philippines. Credit: Getty Images for TB Alliance By Ed HoltBRATISLAVA, May 2 2023 (IPS) While there is no established causal relationship between climate change and tuberculosis (TB), studies have begun to highlight the potential impact its effects could have on the spread of the disease. Undernutrition, HIV/AIDS, overcrowding, poverty, and diabetes have all been identified as TB risk factors that are worsened by climate change. Worryingly, many countries with high burdens of TB, including, for instance, drought-hit Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, and Peru, have suffered from the kind of extreme weather associated with a heating planet. But despite vying with COVID-19 for the grim distinction of the world’s deadliest infectious disease, claiming 1.6 million lives in 2021, TB is not often talked about in connection with climate change, with the link often overlooked by policymakers. TB experts say this must change as the climate crisis accelerates. “The effects of climate change, such as its impact on migration, for instance, are getting attention. What we want to see is for that attention to also get drawn to its effects on TB,” Maria Beumont, Chief Medical Officer at TB Alliance, a global nonprofit organisation developing TB drugs, told IPS. In recent years, disease experts and climatologists have sounded increasingly dire warnings about the potential impact of the climate crisis on the spread of lethal diseases. The...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Climate Change Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report tuberculosis (TB) Source Type: news