Responding to heat-related health risks: the urgency of an equipoise between emergency and equity

Abstract

In the summer of 2024, there were higher temperatures than usual in several parts of India. Temperatures in Delhi, a huge city with millions of residents, broke several previous records. Low-income households have dwellings that do not offer much protection from the heat, and individuals struggle to access basic amenities, such as water. With accumulating evidence on consequent impacts for mortality and morbidity, governance structures are seeking to respond in a timely and efficient manner. There is a need to recognise that heat-related illnesses and deaths are not best addressed merely as an acute disaster but as public health and economic challenges that require planned responses. Responses that are sustainable and equitable combine long-term structural efforts at resilience building with emergency preparedness and prove to be most effective in averting the largely preventable deaths, morbidities, and economic shocks arising from heat-related health risks among exposed and vulnerable communities. Joint action on climate and health enhances achievement of multiple developmental goals with multistakeholder participation. Diverse sectors, including medical care, surveillance, risk communication, disaster preparedness, livelihoods and jobs, and adaptation and urban planning, are needed to raise public awareness and engagement, induce behavioural change, and focus resources for the much-needed structural changes in urban planning and health systems that can save lives and avert damages. To reduce heat-related health risks, vulnerability, inequity, and climate action in the Indian context must be urgently addressed.