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Author(s): Anastasia Moloney Mariejo Ramos Annie Banerji

From the Philippines to Mali, countries struggle to count heat deaths

Source(s): Context
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[...]

Globally, 2.41 billion workers, or 70% of the world's workforce, are exposed to excessive heat, with people in Africa, Arab states and the Asia and Pacific region facing the highest exposure, according to a July report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

[...]

Accurate data on heat-related mortality is difficult to obtain because health authorities do not attribute deaths to heat specifically, but rather to the illnesses exacerbated by high temperatures, such as cardiovascular and kidney issues.

This makes heat a "sneaky and silent killer," said Benmarhnia.

"In the vast majority of situations, heat is going to actually trigger a lot of complications, and that would be the case for people who already have some sort of comorbidity [or] underlying chronic diseases," he said.

Death certificates stating heat as a direct cause are rare, according to health researcher Barrak Alahmad.

[...]

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