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A public health approach to the impact of climate change on health in southern Africa – identifying priority modifiable risks


J Myers
Y Young
M Galloway
P Manyike
T Tucker

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change and anticipated adverse effects on human health as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are taken as givens. A conceptual model for thinking about the spectrum of climate-related health risks ranging from distal and infrastructural to proximal and behavioural and their relation to the burden of disease pattern typical of
sub-Saharan Africa is provided. The model provides a tool for identifying modifiable risk factors with a view to future research, specifically into the performance of interventions to reduce the impact of climate change.

S Afr Med J 2011;101:817-820.

 


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eISSN: 2078-5135
print ISSN: 0256-9574