Abstract
Despite widespread awareness of the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the growing threat of climate change, little research has explored future health outcomes that will occur at the intersection of these challenges. Ten Barbadian health professionals were interviewed to assess their knowledge of health risks of climate change as it relates to NCDs in Barbados as a case study of a small island state at risk. There is widespread concern among health professionals about the current and future prevalence of non-communicable diseases among Barbadians. There is less concern about the future burden of NCDs in the context of a changing climate, largely because of a lack of knowledge among the majority of the health experts interviewed. Those knowledgeable about potential connections noted the difficulty that climate change would pose to the prevention and management of NCDs, given the impacts of climate stressors to food security, the built environment, and physiological and psychosocial health impacts. Lack of awareness among health professionals of the risk climate change poses to NCD prevalence and impact is reflective of the country’s health priorities that fail to recognize the risk of climate change. We recommend efforts to disseminate information about climate change to stakeholders in the health sector to increase awareness.
Highlights
Humans are living in a world of unprecedented environmental, technological and social changes, occurring at rapid spatial and temporal scales
When asked what they considered to be the greatest health challenge in Barbados, all but one key informant stated that chronic non-communicable diseases or issues related to those diseases were the major health issues they encounter in their respective professions
This study found that health professionals have deemed non-communicable diseases to be a major health problem in Barbados, currently and into the future
Summary
Humans are living in a world of unprecedented environmental, technological and social changes, occurring at rapid spatial and temporal scales. These changes contribute to some of the great global health challenges the world is facing. Among these challenges, ‘air pollution & climate change’ and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are considered to be two of greatest threats to human health and wellbeing [1]. Like many other small island developing states (SIDS) in the Caribbean, faces the dual burden of climate change impacts and an increasing prevalence of persons living with non-communicable diseases. As noted by the 2009 Lancet Commission, climate change is “the greatest threat to global health of the
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More From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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