163Bull World Health Organ 2010;88:163 | doi:10.2471/BLT.10.076034 Special theme – Communicable diseases in south-east Asia Climate change and its potential impact on health: a call for integrated action

A growing body of scientific evidence strongly suggests that climate change has enormous and diverse effects on human health. Rises in temperature and sea level and extreme weather events such as floods cause water logging and contamination, which in turn exacerbate diarrhoeal diseases. The spatial and temporal distribution of vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue has been projected to increase due to favourable tempera-tures, with resulting alterations of communicable disease dynamics.1 Climate change is a global issue and its adverse impact can affect the entire world. However, the poor and the most vulnerable populations are likely to be disproportionately affected, with poorer nations bearing the brunt of the impact due to deficient health sys-tems and resources. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year about 150 000 deaths occur worldwide in low-income coun-tries owing primarily to the adverse effects of climate change, primarily crop failure and malnutrition, floods, diarrhoeal diseases and malaria.1 The WHO South-East Asia Regio