(VOVWORLD) -The number of deaths from extreme heat is set to rise year-on-year, said WHO's Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge on Tuesday.
 Doctors Without Borders provides medical care to refugees in South Sudan. (Photo: MSF) |
Current danger zones include southern and eastern Europe, Kluge said, urging the public to regularly check weather reports, follow local guidance, and inform yourself about weather-related health risks from reputable sources.
Beyond adapting to our new reality this summer, we must look to the years and decades ahead, he said. There is a desperate and urgent need for regional and global action to effectively tackle the climate crisis, which poses an existential threat to the human race.
In the long run, Kluge believes that the adoption of the Budapest Declaration, which prioritizes urgent, wide-ranging action on health challenges related to climate change, environmental pollution, and others in the WHO European Region earlier this month, will go a long way toward addressing the worst impacts of climate change on human health and health systems.
On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned of increased risks of health problems and deaths as extreme weather covers parts of Europe, Asia, and the US.
WMO said the heat wave in the Northern hemisphere will intensify in the coming days, causing harmful effects to human health. Temperatures in North America, Asia, across North Africa, and the Mediterranean are forecast to surpass 40 degrees Celsius this week.