The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Task Team on Climate Change, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and Malaria, in partnership with Reaching the Last Mile (RLM), has released a major scoping review published in Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The review of 42 693 articles reveals that there is not yet sufficient understanding of the actual and potential impacts of human-induced changes to climate patterns on malaria and NTDs.

Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns are altering the spread of vector-borne diseases,  with significant implications for human health and placing additional strain on systems. As the geographic range of disease vectors like mosquitoes expands, so does the risk of introducing – or reintroducing – these diseases to new, unprepared areas. The findings of this review highlight that these shifts in prevalence, incidence, range and intensity of malaria and a number of NTDs may be felt hardest in those communities already disproportionately impacted by them.    

“The findings presented in this major review highlight the need for more comprehensive, collaborative, and standardized modelling, so that we can better understand and predict the effects of climate change on malaria and NTDs, both directly and indirectly,” said Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, Director of WHO’s Global NTD Programme, who led the study. “This important and timely review reveals alarming trends and is a call to urgent action. Malaria transmission is likely to shift both polewards and to higher altitude, while the mosquito vector responsible for transmission of dengue and chikungunya is predicted to continue to expand its range. If we are to protect and build upon the hard-won victories of the past two decades, the time to mobilize is now.”