In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, scientists examined official death data from 35 European countries and found a marked increase in deaths from late May to early September last year compared to the average recorded over the previous 30-year period.
Heat waves have a major impact on human health. Photo: AP
They found that the increase in heat-related deaths was higher among older people, women and in Mediterranean countries. But the data also suggested that measures taken in France since a deadly heatwave two decades ago may have helped prevent deaths there last year.
“When we looked at heat-related mortality, we started to see differences,” said co-author Joan Ballester of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. “While France had 73 heat-related deaths per million inhabitants last summer, Spain had 237 and Italy had 295. It is possible that France learned from its 2003 experience.”
France's warning system includes public announcements with advice on how to cool down, encouraging people to drink water and avoid alcohol.
The authors calculate that there were 25,000 more heat-related deaths last summer than the average from 2015 to 2021.
Without appropriate preventive measures, “we can expect an average heat-related mortality burden of 68,116 deaths per summer by 2030,” the authors said. They forecast that number will rise to more than 94,000 by 2040 and more than 120,000 by mid-century.
Spain and Germany have recently announced new measures to tackle the effects of hot weather on their populations.
One difficulty for researchers is that heat-related deaths often occur in people with pre-existing medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, said Matthias an der Heiden of Germany's Robert Koch Institute.
This means that heat is not the underlying cause of deaths and is therefore not recorded in cause-of-death statistics. This can mask the significant impact of heat on vulnerable people, with actual deaths being up to 30% higher in certain age groups during hot weather.
“The problem will be exacerbated by climate change and health systems need to adjust to that,” he said.
The effects of heat depend largely on people's overall health, especially heart and lung disease, according to co-author Ballester.
Other measures already in place in countries like France include raising awareness of the dangers of high temperatures and identifying individuals who need special attention during heatwaves, he said. “These are cheap and effective measures,” Ballester said.
Hoang Anh (according to AP)
Source
Comment (0)