While the health ministry has introduced surveillance for heat-related deaths, Soumya cautioned that fatalities represent only “the very tip of the iceberg.””For every one death, there are probably 20 people who are suffering the impact of heat by high blood pressure or exacerbation of their cardiac disease or heat exhaustion and not being able to go to work,” she added.”There is a lot of productivity loss and economic loss which is happening, which may not be a death, but it is definitely having a big impact on families. That is where we need to really focus our attention because we need to make sure that people remain comfortable and productive,” Soumya told PTI.The former WHO chief scientist added, “Of course we have to minimize deaths. We do not want anyone to die of heat stroke but we also want them to be in thermal comfort.” She also warned of the consequences on mental health.”If you do not get any relief from heat for a prolonged period, then we know, for example, suicides go up, psychiatric illnesses get worse, and domestic violence increases,” Soumya added.She called for a coordinated response involving multiple sectors, including labour, housing and urban planning to reduce the impact of heat.”You need the labour department, industry, factories, workspaces to come in. You need the housing sector to think about heat and especially the low-income housing people who live in tenements with corrugated sheets as roofs. How do we improve the temperature inside those kinds of homes so that people can at least sleep at night?” Soumya said.Asked how governments, local administrations and people should prepare for another brutal summer, she stressed the urgent need to conduct vulnerability mapping in every district.”You can now, using technology, be able to map out and you will know exactly which wards are going to be more impacted by heat. Because there are always some parts that are highly built up and those are usually the places where low-income people are living. You have to focus more attention there,” she said. Soumya also urged hospitals, local governments and employers to take proactive measures.”Prepare your health system, train the health workers. Make sure that you have supplies in your health system, that you have ice, saline and cool rooms, if possible, to put the people who come with the heat,” she said.She also called for creating awareness among people, as well as among employers in workplaces, so that they do checks to make water available in multiple places.”Shade is very important in every community where there is a high chance of this happening,” Soumya said and highlighted simple, low-cost solutions, such as shaded waiting areas at traffic signals.”Many cities have now started putting green shade on top at traffic signals where people on two-wheelers are waiting for a signal to change so that they are not directly exposed to the sun’s heat,” she said. Some of these interventions can be fairly low-cost and can be scaled up right away to prepare for the summer months. A lot of awareness, as well as training needs to be done and longer-term actions need to be taken, she added.
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