Climate change shifts malaria risk to southern, East Africa: Study
The southern and East African regions expected to be hit the hardest in the future are also regions that aren’t accustomed to needing to fight the disease today
A recent study published in Nature reveals that climate change is shifting the risk of childhood malaria to southern and East Africa, while reducing risk in current hotspots. Researchers from the Climate Impact Lab at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Cape Town found that climate change has slightly increased malaria overall, pushing the disease to new areas due to rising temperatures making it difficult for mosquitoes to survive.
Co-author Tamma Carleton explained that "climate change isn't just making malaria worse or better—it's moving it." The study predicts that climate change will decrease malaria cases by 5 percent in hotspots such as Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, as these regions will become too hot for mosquitoes to thrive.
However, it will increase cases by 5 percent in cooler regions like southern Africa, high-elevation East Africa, Angola, Zambia, and northeast South Africa. By 2100, the risk could increase by 20 percent in these areas. To mitigate this trend, the authors emphasize the importance of both climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, including aggressive anti-malaria programs in cooler regions and strengthening global health financing for surveillance, disease control, and better healthcare.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
