Soaring summer temperatures in Europe and Central Asia are killing nearly 400 children a year according to new analysis of the latest available data by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released yesterday.
UNICEF revealed that 377 children died in 2021 based on data from 23 countries across the vast region.
Heat-related illnesses claimed the lives of half of those vulnerable youngsters in the first year of their lives.
“Around half of children across Europe and Central Asia – or 92 million children – are already exposed to frequent heatwaves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate globally,” Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia said.
She warned that increasingly high temperatures can seriously complicate a child’s health, even in a short time frame.
According to UNICEF, heat exposure can have acute effects on a child even before they are born which can lead to pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth, and congenital anomalies.
The agency also noted that heat stress can directly lead to death, affect infant growth and be a gateway to pediatric diseases.
Further, UNICEF said that “extreme heat caused the loss of more than 32,000 years of healthy life among children and teenagers in the region.”
2024 has seen record high temperatures with this June registering as Earth’s hottest on record. It was the thirteenth record-setting month in a row.
UNICEF is urging governments in Europe and Central Asia to invest in “heat health action plans and primary healthcare to more adequately support heat-related illness among children.”
The children’s agency is also calling on governments to invest more in heat alert systems, ensure educational facilities reduce temperatures in areas where children play and securing safe provision of drinking water.
Other measures include equipping buildings to minimize exposure and establishing strategies to reduce the impact of heatwaves overall and especially for children.
Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency noted in late July last year that around 1.7 million children in Tajikistan are exposed regularly to high frequency heatwaves.
Even under the most conservative temperature increase scenarios of 1.7 degrees Celsius, exposure to high heatwave frequency is expected to affect all children in Tajikistan by 2050.
As temperatures soar above 40 degrees Celsius across the country, UNICEF warned of the impact of heatwaves on children’s health and well-being.
Children and infants are particularly vulnerable to heat as their core temperatures rise significantly faster than adults, putting them at risk of heatstroke and other illnesses.
