Experts say governments across Europe need to make sure their healthcare systems and infrastructures are adapting to cope with drastic climatic change.
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00:00Europe is warming at twice the rate of the global average, and this is leading to a whole
00:17range of different health impacts. In Europe, heat-related mortality is a particular problem,
00:27given the elderly, the ageing population in Europe. We're also seeing impacts of climate
00:32change, changing the risk of local transmission of infectious diseases such as dengue, West
00:39Nile virus, leishmaniasis, as the climate conditions become more suitable for the disease.
00:45And we're also seeing more and more travel between Europe and areas experiencing endemic
00:52transmission of several infectious diseases which are of relevance to Europe.
00:57Well, we're seeing, for example, in the case of leishmaniasis, we're seeing a northward shift
01:15of the area of Europe which is now suitable for the transmission of leishmaniasis. We're
01:21also seeing, particularly in northern Europe, increases in the length of the transmission
01:27season suitable for ticks. And in the case of mosquito-borne disease, particularly the
01:33mosquitoes, the Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that can transmit dengue, Zika and chikungunya,
01:40we're seeing increases in the suitability for this mosquito in large parts of Europe,
01:46particularly in southern Europe, but spreading further north.
01:51It's only a matter of time before the climate conditions become more suitable across large
02:04parts of Europe. And unless action is taken to improve the resilience of the European
02:09societies to resist local transmission of these diseases, then we could be facing a
02:14serious problem.