The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that extreme heat poses a growing and potentially deadly threat to public health as many parts of the world experience high temperatures.
"Heat is one of most serious and rapidly growing threats to health and safety posed by climate change," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday.
Around 500,000 people die each year worldwide from heat-related causes, Tedros said, adding that many of those deaths could be prevented.
According to the WHO, protective measures should focus on vulnerable groups, including older people, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women and children, as well as workers and socially disadvantaged populations.
Tedros cited a scientific study examining global temperatures and mortality between 2000 and 2019. While the study found that cold-related deaths significantly outnumbered heat-related deaths during that period, it also showed that mortality linked to cold declined while heat-related mortality increased.
