Rising temperatures caused nearly 400 deaths among children in Europe and Central Asia in 2021, according to UNICEF

Jul 24. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned in its latest report that rising temperatures in Europe and Central Asia caused the deaths of some 377 children in 2021, mostly during the summer months.

The report ‘Beat the heat: child health in the face of heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia’ reveals that half of these children died from heat-related illnesses in their first year of life.

“Around half of children in Europe and Central Asia, or 92 million children, are already exposed to frequent heat waves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate in the world,” said UNICEF Director for both regions, Regina de Dominicis.

According to De Dominicis, increasingly high temperatures can have “serious health complications for children, especially the youngest ones, even in a short space of time.” “Without attention, these complications can be life-threatening,” he warned.

Exposure to heat has serious effects on infants, even before birth, and can cause premature births, low birth weight, stillbirths and birth defects; heat can also affect the growth of newborns and cause a variety of pediatric diseases.

In this context, UNICEF has called on governments in Europe and Central Asia to integrate strategies focused on reducing the impact of heat waves, as well as to invest in heat-related health action plans and primary care to more effectively address heat-related illnesses in children.

Along the same lines, the UN agency has stressed the need to invest in early warning systems; adapt educational facilities to reduce temperatures and provide teachers with skills to respond to heat stress; adapt urban design to minimise exposure to high temperatures, and guarantee the supply of drinking water, especially in those countries where water quality is deteriorating.

Finally, UNICEF has stressed that it is working with governments, partners and communities across the region to “increase resilience to heat waves”, which includes equipping teachers, health workers and families with the skills and knowledge needed to respond to heat stroke resulting from rising temperatures.