Pharmacy Daily | Flooding impacts long-term health

THE world's largest and most comprehensive study of the long-term health impacts of flooding has found a 26% increased risk of diseases serious enough to require hospitalisation.

This impact on the health of communities lasts up to seven months post event, said the study authors, led by Monash University researchers.

The analysis of over 300 million hospitalisation records in eight countries prone to flooding events, including Australia, found that they led to increases in hospitalisation for cardiovascular diseases (35%), respiratory diseases (30%), infectious diseases (26%), digestive diseases (30%) such as gastroenteritis, mental health disorders (11%), diabetes (61%), cancer (34%), nervous system disorders (34%), and renal diseases (40%).

In Australia, where researchers looked at the impact of flooding in northern NSW, the hospitalisation risks of some cause-specific diseases decreased after floods, while risks of other cause-specific diseases increased after floods.

Diabetes-related hospitalisations increased significantly, with respiratory and infectious diseases, and injuries also higher.

However, mental health hospitalisations were lower.

The authors said this might be because the hospitalisations of some diseases were prioritised after floods, so the hospitalisations of other diseases were delayed and limited in number.

Flood events impact health through the contamination of water supply systems and the growth of fungi, bacteria, viruses, and vectors like mice and insects, which can trigger outbreaks of respiratory, digestive and infectious diseases.

Floods may also force massive evacuations, causing displacement, while temporary shelters may be short in sanitation facilities.

Access and capacity to healthcare services may be impaired after floods, leading to delay in regular medical interventions.

This is the first and most comprehensive study to look at broader impacts on health, suggesting that the health impact of floods may have been underestimated and will further exacerbate as climate changes, the authors noted.

"Projections indicate an escalation in the severity, duration and frequency of floods due to the more frequent extreme precipitation events and rising sea levels due to global warming," they pointed out.

"Policymakers and health professionals should raise awareness of the increased hospitalisation demands from a broad range of diseases after floods to improve disaster response strategies and health system resilience to optimise the prognosis of the incidence or onset of diseases during and after floods to cope with the health challenges brought by climate change," the authors concluded.

Read the paper HERE. KB