Abstract
The health burdens of climate change are spread disproportionately, with developing countries being the most affected. These effects burden children in developing countries. This study assesses the effects of climate change on the health of children in parts of Southwest Nigeria, analyzes inter and intra-city variations in the prevalence of climate-related diseases among children, and examines the influence of demographic variables on the incidence pattern. Hospital records of 7,458 children and climatic data of three cities were employed. The results show that 58% of the cases were for female children, while 56% of the diagnosis was for malaria. Other diseases found included diarrhoea (16%), meningitis (6%) and asthma (4%). Temperature and rainfall accounted for 32.3% and 44.6% of the variations in malaria and diarrhoea cases and there were significant inter-city and intra-city variations in the disease incidence. More female children were affected irrespective of their socioeconomic background while 72.2% of children affected were aged below 5.
Full text
Permalink (doi)
Authors Affiliations
Aina T. Adeboyejo (1), David O. Adejumobi (1), Yemi Adewoyin* (2,3), Abisola O. Oyasiji (1)
1) Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria
2) University of Nigeria, Nigeria
3) University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
* Corresponding author.
Email: yemiadewoyin@yahoo.com
References
Adeboyejo, A.T. and Adewoyin, Y. (2017), “Climate Change and Health of the Aged in Lagos, Nigeria”, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Science, vol. 11, no. 13, p. 8-16.
Adeboyejo, A.T, Lirvhuwani, M. and Shonisani, D.K. (2012), “Impact of Climate Change on Children’s Health in Limpopo Province, South-Africa”, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 831-854
Almeida, A.P., Nunes, P.B., Duro, S.M.S. and Facchini, L.A. (2017), “Socioeconomic Determinants of Access to Health Services among Older Adults: A Systematic Review”, Revista de Saude Publica, vol. 51.
Andrulis, D.P. (2000), “Community, Service, and Policy Strategies to Improve Health Care Access in the Changing Urban Environment”, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 90, p. 858–862.
Balbus, J.M. and Malina, C. (2009), “Identifying Vulnerable Subpopulations for Climate Change Health Effects in the United States”, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 51, no. 1, p. 33–37
Caminade, C., Kovats, S., Rocklov, J., Tompkins, A.M., Morse, A.P., Colón-González, F.J., Stenlund, H., Martens, P. and Lloyd, S.J. (2014), Impact of Climate Change on Global Malaria Distribution, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany.
Campbell-Lendrum, D., Manga, L., Bagayoko, M. and Sommerfield, J. (2015), “Climate Change and Vector-Borne Diseases: What are the Implications for Public Health Research and Policy?”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 370, no. 1665.
Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness (2000), “Climatic Heat Stress and the Exercising Child and Adolescent: American Academy of Pediatrics Policy statement”, Pediatrics, vol. 106, p. 158–159.
Efe, S.I. and Ojoh, C.O. (2013), “Climate Variation and Malaria Prevalence in Warri Metropolis”, Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, vol. 3, p. 132-140.
Franks, P. and Fiscella, K. (2002), “Effect of Patient Socioeconomic Status on Physician Profiles for Prevention, Disease Management, and Diagnostic Testing Costs”, Medical Care, vol. 40, no. 8, p. 717–24.
Grant, U. (2010), “Spatial Inequality and Urban Poverty Traps”, Working Paper 326, Overseas Development Institute, London.
Hanna, R. and Oliva, P. (2016), “Implications of Climate Change for Children in Developing Countries”, The Future of Children, vol. 26, no. 1, p. 115-32.
Hart, J.T. (1971), “The Inverse Care Law”, Lancet, vol. 1, p. 405-412.
Ikporukpo, C.O. (2002), Spatial Engineering and Accessibility. An Inaugural Lecture, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Vantage Publishers, Ibadan.
Kawachi, I. and Kennedy, B.P. (1997), “Socio-Economic Determinant of Health: health and social cohesion, why care about income inequality?”, British Medical Journal, vol. 314, no. 7086, p. 1037-1040.
Landrigan, P.J. and Garg, A. (2005), “Children are Not Little Adults” in J. Pronczuk-Garbino (ed.), Children’s Health and the Environment – A Global Perspective: A Resource Manual for the Health Sector, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, p. 3–16.
Langlois, S. and Morrison, P. (2002), “Suicide Deaths and Suicide Attempts”, Health Reports, Statistics Canada, Catalogue 82-003, p. 9–22.
Lineberry, R. (1976), “Equality, Public Policy and Public Services: The Underclass Hypothesis and the Limits to Equality”, Policy and Politics, vol. 4, no. 2, p. 67-84.
Makkar, R.R., Fromm, B.S., Steinman, R.T., Meissner, M.D. and Lehmann, M.H. (1993), “Female Gender as a Risk Factor for Torsades de Pointes Associated with Cardiovascular Drugs”, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 270, no. 2, p. 2590–2597.
National Bureau of Statistics (2018), 2017 Demographic Statistics Bulletin, National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja.
Okafor, S.I. (1982), “Policy and Practice: The Case of Medical Facilities in Nigeria”, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 16, no. 22, p. 1971-1977.
Oluleye, A. and Akinbobola, A. (2010), “Malaria and Pneumonia Occurrence in Lagos, Nigeria: Role of Temperature and Rainfall”, African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 4, no. 8, p. 506-516.
Pronczuk-Garbino, J. (2005), Children’s Health and the Environment – A Global Perspective: A Resource Manual for the Health Sector, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Pruss-Ustan, A. and Corvalan, C. (2007), “How Much Disease Burden can be Prevented by Environmental Intervention?”, Epidemiology, vol. 18, no. 1, p. 167-178.
Selevan, S.G., Kimmel, C.A. and Mendola, P. (2005), “Windows of Susceptibility to Environmental Exposures in Children”, in J. Pronczuk-Garbino (ed,) Children’s Health and the Environment – A Global Perspective: A Resource Manual for the Health Sector, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, p. 17–26.
Shaywitz, B.A., Shaywltz, S.E., Pugh, K.R., Constable, R.T., Skudlarski, P., Fulbright, R.K., Bronen, R.A., Fletcher, J.M., Shankweiler, D.P., Katz, L. and Gore, J.C. (1995), “Sex Differences in the Functional Organization of the Brain for Language”, Nature, vol. 373, p. 607–609.
Sheffield, P.E. and Landrigan, P.J. (2011), “Global Climate Change and Children’s Health: Threats and Strategies for Prevention”, Environmental Health Perspective, vol. 119, no. 3, p. 291–298.
Society for Women’s Health Research (2001), Women and Men: 10 Differences that Make a Difference, 16 May 2010, shorturl.at/nsBIK.
Stephens, C. (2011), “Revisiting urban health and social inequalities: the devil is in the detail and the solution is in all of us”, Environment and Urbanization, vol. 23, no. 1, p. 29-40.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2015), Unless We Act Now: The Impact of Climate Change on Children, United Nations, New York.
Wan, T.T.H. and Gray, L.C. (1978), “Differential Access to Preventive Services for Young Children in Low-Income Urban Areas”, Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, vol. 19, p. 312–324.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2008), The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update, World Health Organization, Geneva.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2009), Protecting Health from Climate Change: Global Research Priorities, 15 February 2011, shorturl.at/rEVWZ.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2014), Climate Change and Health Projects, Geneva, Switzerland.
Zacarias, O.P. and Andersson, M. (2011), “Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Malaria Incidence in Mozambique”, Malaria Journal, vol. 10, no. 189.
This post has already been read 2596 times!
