International

WHO warns of El Niño impacts in Latin America

August 7|

In a recent communiqué, the World Health Organization (WHO) alerted 25 countries to the worrying consequences that the El Niño phenomenon could generate over the coming months, with the focus on nations in Central America and northern South America.

Global warming has shown one of the most catastrophic results in recent months, with an unusual heat wave in the northern hemisphere and altered temperatures around the world. As recently reported by the WHO, the natural phenomenon known as El Niño may still have consequences that may aggravate the situation in the countries already affected.

Precisely, the organization warned that “populations already affected by a humanitarian crisis face a greater risk of health consequences, derived from both extreme heat and excess humidity”.

In this sense, they explained that the increase in temperatures favors the emergence of epidemics of vector-borne diseases in high altitude areas, where cold weather generally prevents their spread. The organization also predicted that the phenomenon that appeared last month will continue to cause floods and droughts until September.

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In the Americas, the WHO alerted Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. In that sense, the organization underlined the warning for Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Burma, Philippines and Vietnam on the Asian side, while in Africa it was directed to Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Related Topics:El Niño Latin America WHO

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