Abstract
Given its associated burden of disease, climate change in South Africa could be reframed as predominately a health issue, one necessitating an urgent health-sector response. The growing impact of climate change has major implications for South Africa, especially for the numerous vulnerable groups in the country. We systematically reviewed the literature by searching PubMed and Web of Science. Of the 820 papers screened, 34 were identified that assessed the impacts of climate change on health in the country. Most papers covered effects of heat on health or on infectious diseases (20/34; 59%). We found that extreme weather events are the most noticeable effects to date, especially droughts in the Western Cape, but rises in vector-borne diseases are gaining prominence. Climate aberration is also linked in myriad ways with outbreaks of food and waterborne diseases, and possibly with the recent Listeria epidemic. The potential impacts of climate change on mental health may compound the multiple social stressors that already beset the populace. Climate change heightens the pre-existing vulnerabilities of women, fishing communities, rural subsistence farmers and those living in informal settlements. Further gender disparities, eco-migration and social disruptions may undermine the prevention—but also treatment—of HIV. Our findings suggest that focused research and effective use of surveillance data are required to monitor climate change’s impacts; traditional strengths of the country’s health sector. The health sector, hitherto a fringe player, should assume a greater leadership role in promoting policies that protect the public’s health, address inequities and advance the country’s commitments to climate change accords.
Highlights
The question of how to tackle the ecological determinants of health is poised to become the signature public health issue of the coming decade in South Africa, in much the same way that HIV took centre stage in the preceding decades
One quarter addressed the effects of heat on health in the country (9/34; 26%), while a third investigated the impact of climate change on infectious diseases (11/34; 32%)
When climate change is framed as a predominately a health issue, rather than purely as an environmental, economic, or technological challenge, it becomes clear that South Africa is facing major challenges
Summary
The question of how to tackle the ecological determinants of health is poised to become the signature public health issue of the coming decade in South Africa, in much the same way that HIV took centre stage in the preceding decades. Rapid environmental changes are creating observable effects in multiple domains, from air quality, temperature and weather patterns, to food security and disease burden [1]. Ambient air pollution is estimated to have been responsible for 4% of deaths in. South Africa in 2015 [2]. Even though there is some spatial variation in the warming signal, most of. South Africa has experienced upward trends in temperature during the last half of the 20th century [3,4]. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1884; doi:10.3390/ijerph15091884 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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