GLOBAL warming is poised to expose millions more people to malaria in Bangladesh along with the populations of the densely populated tropical highland regions of Africa, Asia and central and southern America unless the spread of parasite-bearing mosquitoes can be stopped. The fact is that this kind of mosquito is highly stress tolerant and can fly in higher altitudes to make the monitoring of their movements difficult. A news report published in local dailies on Saturday made the disclosure quoting a study in the US journal ‘Science’ as it was conducted by a group of British and US scientists in the recent past.
The study said mosquito-borne diseases alone killed over 620,000 people in 2012 while around 220 million people get infected a year. It also showed the hard evidence that malaria bearing mosquitoes go to higher elevated zones during warmer times of the year and then they come back to lower elevated regions when temperatures get cool. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) data, the number of malaria infected people is increasing every year and the death tolls from malaria related diseases are also on the rise.
Although the name of Bangladesh was not included in the list of countries exposed to malaria in the immediate future, scientists say we should not feel protected either because Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable nations due to climate change as per a World Bank report released last year.
It is poised to become seriously affected by a rise of two-degree Celsius in the world’s average temperature in the coming decades. The report, however, included parts of Peru, Ecuador, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Papua New Guinea as high risk areas from the spread of malaria as global warming is exponentially rising. The disease causes high fever, headaches, vomiting, itching and joint pains, and can lead to hemorrhaging and death.
It is also apprehended that a rise in sea level by one meter may cause over 17 percent of the coastal landmass of Bangladesh to go under salt water endangering agriculture, environment and biodiversity of the region. It may render over 20 million people homeless to become climate refugees losing the means of livelihood and forcing them to move to densely populated areas inside the country. Scientists fear that cyclones in 2050 may expose 9.7 million people to sea level rises. The country will face serious food security risks, in addition to numerous health hazards, malaria being one as such.
We really feel concerned about the growing menace of malaria resulting from global warming and the sea level rise to become one of the biggest threats to public health in our country. We hold the view that the government must take all preparations to face these challenges and put in place adequate measures to avoid the threats and mitigate the approaching dangers. Bangladesh as one of the coastline nations is facing the brunt of climate change but the developed nations are backing out from their promised compensations and other assistance to fight back the climate related challenges. We advise the government and the non-government organizations (NGOs) not to wait for external assistance and take all steps necessary to protect the population from malaria and other climate related challenges.
