Increased rains seem to increase the number of people with vector- (insect) borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. In Angumu health zone, Democratic Republic of Congo, malaria is the main cause of death among children under five. In recent years, our teams have observed what appears to be a trend of heavy rains and have treated a high number of malaria patients in the area. In 2018 and 2019 in Honduras, considered a climate change hotspot, we responded to the country’s worst outbreak of dengue fever in 50 years, following a prolonged rainy season.

Drought and floods are thought to already have had an impact on malnutrition in some of the areas we work. In Niamey, Niger, where rains have brought floods and wiped-out crops, our teams have observed and responded, over the last two years, to increases in malnutrition cases. Conversely, in the desert regions of southern Madagascar, three consecutive years of drought have severely affected harvests and access to food, in a context now marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a drop in seasonal employment and other sources of income.

Across the Sahel, in sub-Saharan Africa, climate change has contributed to an imbalance of land available to livestock herders and farmers. The competition over resources and the authorities’ inability to negotiate access to land have resulted in conflict between the two groups, adding to the violence and insecurity across the region, to which we respond to the consequences of by providing medical care. Conflict, in turn, often causes people to become displaced.

Climate change is increasingly influencing human mobility as more places become uninhabitable. Millions of people are currently on the move, and the conditions that create such displacement will likely be exacerbated by climate change. In 2020, our teams provided medical care to people in Honduras, displaced by Hurricanes Eta and Iota ─ which were the worst storms to hit Central America since hurricane Mitch in 1998.