Assess the relationships between climate and the prevalence of transmitted diseases.
(9 marks)
Climate and the prevalence of disease are often linked as variations in climatic
characteristics can alter the behaviour of the spread in disease.
An example in which we can see how climate influences the prevalence of a transmitted
disease can be seen in Uganda and the prevalence of Malaria. Within Uganda, 3.4 million
people die from malaria each year, this has had a negative socioeconomic impact on
Uganda’s population and economy as the high prevalence of malaria has prevented children
from attending school and the working population from attending work resulting in an
overall reduction in economic productivity. This economic productivity is enhanced over
time as each generation has been influenced by the disease resulting in a loss of education
and thus producing a lower skill working population. As a result of this low skill working
population and the loss of productivity, Uganda has an extremely low GDP per capita of 830
USD. This makes investment into healthcare difficult as there is less income to tax and
therefore less capital for the government to invest.
The prevalence of malaria is impacted by Uganda’s equatorial climate and equatorial
temperatures of 22.5 degrees Celsius. Malaria is a vector borne disease that is carried
through mosquitos who breed and thrive in hot climates with large water bodies. In addition
to its equatorial temperatures, Uganda is also located between three major bodies of water:
lakes Victoria, albert, and Kyoga. This makes it an ideal environment for mosquitos carrying
the malaria disease to breed and transmit the disease amongst the high population.
Furthermore, as the threat of climate change increases, the prevalence of malaria will also
increase as areas within southern Europe, Asia and South America adopt higher
temperatures as a result of global temperature rise, resulting in more opportunity for the
disease to be transmitted due to the creation of ideal climates.
(9 marks)
Climate and the prevalence of disease are often linked as variations in climatic
characteristics can alter the behaviour of the spread in disease.
An example in which we can see how climate influences the prevalence of a transmitted
disease can be seen in Uganda and the prevalence of Malaria. Within Uganda, 3.4 million
people die from malaria each year, this has had a negative socioeconomic impact on
Uganda’s population and economy as the high prevalence of malaria has prevented children
from attending school and the working population from attending work resulting in an
overall reduction in economic productivity. This economic productivity is enhanced over
time as each generation has been influenced by the disease resulting in a loss of education
and thus producing a lower skill working population. As a result of this low skill working
population and the loss of productivity, Uganda has an extremely low GDP per capita of 830
USD. This makes investment into healthcare difficult as there is less income to tax and
therefore less capital for the government to invest.
The prevalence of malaria is impacted by Uganda’s equatorial climate and equatorial
temperatures of 22.5 degrees Celsius. Malaria is a vector borne disease that is carried
through mosquitos who breed and thrive in hot climates with large water bodies. In addition
to its equatorial temperatures, Uganda is also located between three major bodies of water:
lakes Victoria, albert, and Kyoga. This makes it an ideal environment for mosquitos carrying
the malaria disease to breed and transmit the disease amongst the high population.
Furthermore, as the threat of climate change increases, the prevalence of malaria will also
increase as areas within southern Europe, Asia and South America adopt higher
temperatures as a result of global temperature rise, resulting in more opportunity for the
disease to be transmitted due to the creation of ideal climates.
