Climate Change And Development Consultation On Key Researchable Issues Sectoral Issues Section 2.5. Health

Document begins: CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT CONSULTATION ON KEY RESEARCHABLE ISSUES SECTORAL ISSUES SECTION 2.5. HEALTH HANNAH REID, LAUREL MURRAY AND SARI KOVATS Saleemul Huq and Hannah Reid Climate Change Group International Institute for Environment and Development 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, UK Tel: (+44 20) 7388 2117 Fax: (+44 20) 7388 2826 Email: saleemul.huq@iied.org hannah.reid@iied.org Climate Change and Health The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that climate change may have major consequences for human health. "We have evidence to state that climate change - by altering weather patterns and by disturbing life-supporting natural systems and processes - affects the health of human populations. There are many effects of these changes. And there is still discussion on the exact causality between human behaviour and climate change. But we know enough to take this very seriously and we have every reason to be concerned about adverse consequences for human health." Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General, World Health Organization. Speech at Geneva, World Meteorological Day, 23 March 1999 "Although risk may be low compared with current acute health crises, the attributable burden of such a widespread global phenomenon may be quite high" Patz and Kovats (2002) Climate change may affect ...