Climate change and health in the Sahel: a systematic review

The Sahel region is projected to be highly impacted by the more frequent hazards associated with climate change, including increased temperature, drought and flooding. This systematic review examined the evidence for climate change-related health consequences in the Sahel. The databases used were Me...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Royal Society open science 2024-07, Vol.11 (7), p.231602-15
Main Authors: Acosta, Daniel, Barrow, Amadou, Mahamadou, Idrissa Saidou, Assuncao, Victoria Simoni, Edwards, Mary E, McKune, Sarah L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Climate change
Food security
Heat
Infectious diseases
Keywords
Nutrition
Review
Sahel
Science, Society and Policy
Systematic review
vector-borne diseases
Vectors (Biology)
Water shortages
West Africa
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Summary:The Sahel region is projected to be highly impacted by the more frequent hazards associated with climate change, including increased temperature, drought and flooding. This systematic review examined the evidence for climate change-related health consequences in the Sahel. The databases used were Medline (PubMed), Embase (Ovid), Web of Science (Clarivate) and CABI Global Health. Hand searches were also conducted, which included directly engaging Sahelian researchers and hand-searching in the African Journals Online database. Of the 4153 studies found, 893 were identified as duplicates and the remaining 3260 studies were screened (title and abstract only) and then assessed for eligibility. A total of 81 studies were included in the systematic review. Most studies focused on vector-borne diseases, food security, nutrition and heat-related stress. Findings suggest that mosquito distribution will shift under different climate scenarios, but this relationship will not be linear with temperature, as there are other variables to consider. Food insecurity, stunting (chronic malnutrition) and heat-related mortality are likely to increase if no action is taken owing to the projected impact of climate change on environmental factors and agriculture. Seventy-one per cent of manuscripts ( = 58) had first authors from institutions in North America or Europe, of which 39.7% ( = 23) included co-authors from African institutions.
ISSN:2054-5703
2054-5703
DOI:10.1098/rsos.231602