Title: Understanding the impacts of climate change/extreme heat on maternal and child health in West Africa
Abstract: West Africa has been identified as particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change. The region is warming at twice the average global rate and is at risk of extreme heat, alteration in rainfall with both increased risk of floods and drought, wildfires and hurricanes.
There is growing global evidence of the harmful impacts of climate impacts on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm birth and stillbirth. However data from Low Income Countries (LIC) are sparse despite high levels of exposure and increased vulnerability due to health system factors. In addition, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are mostly unknown or only minimally explored.
This talk will cover data from studies from The Gambia and the wider region exploring the underlying physiological mechanisms of extreme heat in pregnancy, impact of heat on birth outcomes and infant growth trajectories and discuss potential collaborations going forward.
Biography: I am an academic clinician with a sound understanding of clinical medicine, physiology, maternal health and epidemiology. I work mainly on the nexus between climate change and maternal and child health.
Currently my research broadly spans three areas within climate and health:
1. Direct health impacts of heat and climate change on maternal and child health
2. Direct health impacts of heat on vulnerable adult populations in West Africa
3. Development and evaluation of co-designed sustainable interventions to reduce the health risk of heat in vulnerable populations in LMICs https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/bonell.ana
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