WHO urges European governments to classify heatwave as a health crisis

Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

As the heatwave in Europe goes on the regional WHO chief Hans Kluge called on the European governments to treat the current high temperatures as a health crisis, and prepare the relevant health system measures.

The heatwave has claimed over 1000 lives across Europe as more and more temperature records were broken by the extreme heat, which often exceeded 40°C. The temperature influenced a lot of people’s wellbeing, put the European health systems to the test. A lot of patients suffering from various heatwave related health issues were delivered to hospitals, with other people still having to remain vigilant about their condition as the hot temperatures might make it worse.

On Monday Hans Kluge, thew chief of WHO in Europe, in a post on X called for recognizing the heatwave as a health crisis. He added that action needs to be taken before it’s too late. Among the measures proposed by Kluge are the protection of high-risk patients, supporting health workers, securing the supplies necessary for the hospital and other such infrastructure to remain operational etc.

Although the temperatures are expected to drop, the pressure that was put on health services in Europe proved to be substantial. For example, in France it is reported that there was a 4 time increase in people with heat-related conditions treated in emergency rooms. At the same time the London Ambulance Service reported that Friday proved to be one of its busiest days in a long time, as the Service responded to almost nine thousand emergency calls that day.