Skip to main content
NIH Intramural Research Program, Our Research Changes Lives

Navigation controls

  • Search
  • Menu

Social follow links

  • Podcast
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Main navigation

  • About Us
    • What Is the IRP?
    • History
    • Honors
      • Nobel Prize
      • Lasker Award
      • Breakthrough Prize
      • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
      • Presidential Medal of Freedom
      • National Medal of Science
      • Searle Scholars
      • The National Academy of Sciences
      • The National Academy of Medicine
      • The National Academy of Engineering
      • The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
      • National Medal of Technology & Innovation
      • Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals
      • Crafoord Prize
      • Fellows of the Royal Society
      • Canada Gairdner Awards
    • Organization & Leadership
    • Our Programs
      • NCI
      • NEI
      • NHGRI
      • NHLBI
      • NIA
      • NIAAA
      • NIAID
      • NIAMS
      • NIBIB
      • NICHD
      • NIDA
      • NIDCD
      • NIDCR
      • NIDDK
      • NIEHS
      • NIMH
      • NIMHD
      • NINDS
      • NINR
      • NLM
      • CC
      • NCATS
      • NCCIH
    • Research Campus Locations
    • Contact Information
  • Our Research
    • Scientific Focus Areas
      • Biomedical Engineering & Biophysics
      • Cancer Biology
      • Cell Biology
      • Chemical Biology
      • Chromosome Biology
      • Clinical Research
      • Computational Biology
      • Developmental Biology
      • Epidemiology
      • Genetics & Genomics
      • Health Disparities
      • Immunology
      • Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
      • Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
      • Molecular Pharmacology
      • Neuroscience
      • RNA Biology
      • Social & Behavioral Sciences
      • Stem Cell Biology
      • Structural Biology
      • Systems Biology
      • Virology
    • Principal Investigators
      • View by Investigator Name
      • View by Scientific Focus Area
    • Accomplishments
      • View All Accomplishments by Date
      • View All Health Topics
      • The Body
      • Health & Wellness
      • Conditions & Diseases
      • Procedures
    • Accelerating Science
      • Investing in Cutting-Edge Animal Models
      • Creating Cell-Based Therapies
      • Advancing Computational and Structural Biology
      • Combating Drug Resistance
      • Developing Novel Imaging Techniques
      • Charting the Pathways of Inflammation
      • Zooming in on the Microbiome
      • Uncovering New Opportunities for Natural Products
      • Stimulating Neuroscience Research
      • Pursuing Precision Medicine
      • Unlocking the Potential of RNA Biology and Therapeutics
      • Producing Novel Vaccines
    • Research in Action
      • View All Stories
      • Too Much of a Good Thing
      • Turning Face Perception on Its Head
      • Safeguarding a Second Chance at Life
      • A Biological Betrayal
    • Trans-IRP Research Resources
      • Supercomputing
    • IRP Review Process
    • Commercializing Inventions
  • NIH Clinical Center
    • Clinical Center Facilities
    • Advancing Translational Science
    • Clinical Trials
      • Get Involved with Clinical Research
      • Physician Resources
  • News & Events
    • In the News
    • I am Intramural Blog
    • Speaking of Science Podcast
    • SciBites Video Shorts
    • The NIH Catalyst Newsletter
    • Events
  • Careers
    • Faculty-Level Scientific Careers
    • Trans-NIH Scientific Recruitments
      • Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigators
        • Science, the Stadtman Way
        • Earl Stadtman Investigator Frequently Asked Questions
      • Lasker Clinical Research Scholars
      • Independent Research Scholar
    • Scientific & Clinical Careers
    • Administrative Careers
  • Research Training
    • Program Information
    • Training Opportunities
    • NIH Work/Life Resources
The NIH Catalyst: A Publication About NIH Intramural Research

National Institutes of Health • Office of the Director | Volume 24 Issue 1 • January–February 2016

The SIG Beat: Global Health

NEWS FROM AND ABOUT THE NIH SCIENTIFIC INTEREST GROUPS

NIH Global Health Interest Group: How Climate Change Affects Health

BY HEBA DIAB (NHLBI) AND AMY KULLAS (NIGMS AND NIAID)

Climate change affects general and mental health, the spread of infectious diseases, and health security. To address these issues, the NIH Global Health Interest Group (GHIG) gathered climate-change experts for a symposium on October 15, 2015, in the Natcher Conference Center (Building 45).

chart summarizing the impact of climate change on human health

The experts included National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Director Linda Birnbaum and her senior advisor, John Balbus; ophthalmologist Sheila West from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore); public-health physician-epidemiologist Jean-Paul Chretien from the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center; global mental-health expert Inka Weissbecker from the International Medical Corps; and Mike Gremillion, chief of the Weather Strategic Plans and Interagency Integration Division of the United States Air Force.

General health: Climate change can make people more vulnerable to damaging pollutants and diseases, especially in developing countries that have poor health-care systems or in which people lack access to health care. In one example, Sheila West explained her work in Africa battling trachoma, an eye infection that is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. It occurs where people live in overcrowded conditions with limited access to water and health care.

Infectious diseases: Jean-Paul Chretien discussed how global climate anomalies change the habits of infectious-disease vectors (such as mosquitoes, ticks, and rodents), increasing the potential for infectious diseases including dengue, cholera, and malaria. Given that most of these diseases affect the poorest populations around the world, it is no surprise that lack of medical facilities, increasingly severe weather challenges, and dwindling food and water resources not only lower survival rates but also affect the overall quality of life.

Mental health: Climate change can affect mental health, too. Millions of people will be displaced due to coastal flooding that stems from rising sea levels; millions more will migrate from expanding desert regions with reduced agricultural output and water shortages. Inka Weissbecker described how the loss of loved ones or population displacement resulting in loss of work, belongings, social networks, and identity are among the multiple stressors that undermine mental health. Unfortunately, people in such underserved areas are particularly vulnerable because their countries have the fewest resources for mental-health care, particularly those countries in Africa that have only one psychiatrist for the entire country.

Security: Mike Gremillion stressed how climate change influences economic security and security of the food and water supply. Flooding, droughts, tsunamis, heat waves, and other disasters kill thousands of people each year in developing and developed nations. As seen by bread shortages in Egypt, lost crops due to droughts in Central America, and food and water shortages due to unseasonable monsoons and droughts in India, the world’s livelihood is becoming increasingly compromised. Consequently, these events have led to humanitarian crises, economic hardships, and stressed national and international security.

Solutions: Although climate change threatens human well-being, many consider it an opportunity to change global health. John Balbus quoted Margaret Chan, World Health Organization Director-General, who said, “The evidence is overwhelming: Climate change endangers human health. Solutions exist, and we need to act decisively to change this trajectory.” It is the health-care sector, more than the technological and economic sectors, that has the potential to educate the public about the connection between climate change and their own health and well-being.


For more information on the NIH-Global Health Interest Group (NIH-GHIG), visit http://sigs.nih.gov/globalhealth/Pages/default.aspx or contact Gyan “John” Prakash (prakashg@mail.nih.gov) or Amy L. Kullas (amy.kullas@nih.gov).

This page was last updated on Monday, April 25, 2022

  • Issue Overview
  • Features
    • Genome Editing
    • Inflammation Insights
    • Obituaries 2015
  • Departments
    • From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research
    • Research Briefs
    • Photographic Moment
    • Colleagues: Recently Tenured
    • News You Can Use
    • The Training Page: Policy Wonks
    • The Training Page: FARE Awards
    • The SIG Beat: Global Health
    • The SIG Beat
    • Announcements
  • Issue Contents
  • Download this issue as a PDF

Catalyst menu

  • Current Issue
  • Previous Issues
  • About The NIH Catalyst
  • Contact The NIH Catalyst
  • Share Your Story
  • NIH Abbreviations

Catalyst links

  • Follow The NIH Catalyst

Subscribe Today!

Subscribe to The NIH Catalyst Newsletter and receive email updates.

Subscribe

Get IRP Updates

Subscribe

  • Email
  • Print
  • Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Main navigation

  • About Us
    • What Is the IRP?
    • History
    • Honors
    • Organization & Leadership
    • Our Programs
    • Research Campus Locations
    • Contact Information
  • Our Research
    • Scientific Focus Areas
    • Principal Investigators
    • Accomplishments
    • Accelerating Science
    • Research in Action
    • Trans-IRP Research Resources
    • IRP Review Process
    • Commercializing Inventions
  • NIH Clinical Center
    • Clinical Center Facilities
    • Advancing Translational Science
    • Clinical Trials
  • News & Events
    • In the News
    • I am Intramural Blog
    • Speaking of Science Podcast
    • SciBites Video Shorts
    • The NIH Catalyst Newsletter
    • Events
  • Careers
    • Faculty-Level Scientific Careers
    • Trans-NIH Scientific Recruitments
    • Scientific & Clinical Careers
    • Administrative Careers
  • Research Training
    • Program Information
    • Training Opportunities
    • NIH Work/Life Resources
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • National Institutes of Health
  • USA.gov

Footer

  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • IRP Brand Materials
  • HHS Vulnerability Disclosure
  • Web Policies & Notices
  • Site Map
  • Search