Health vulnerability to heat stress in rural communities of the semi-arid regions of Maharashtra, India

Rural health infrastructure needs to be upgraded to effectively include heat stress related illnesses and to develop a health surveillance mechanism for monitoring heat-related morbidity and mortality. This policy brief highlights the risks and responses to heat stress in rural communities of the semi-arid region of Maharashtra. It identifies vulnerable groups as well as important factors that affect vulnerability to heat stress. Heat related symptoms (HRS) include: small blisters or pimples, dry mouth, fatigue, leg cramps, heavy sweating, intense thirst, rapid heartbeat, headache, leg swelling, paranoid feeling and swelling of face; and in more severe cases hallucinations, fainting and vomiting.UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID)International Development Research Centre (IDRC