By Michael Omotosho |
The World Health Organization (WHO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have launched a new global framework to help countries track the health risks of extreme heat among pregnant women, newborns and children.
The framework, described as the first-ever set of priority indicators for monitoring heat-related health impacts on these groups, is designed to strengthen preparedness, improve monitoring and accelerate responses to climate-related health risks.
The initiative comes amid growing evidence that exposure to extreme heat can harm health from pregnancy through childhood, with studies linking such exposure to a 26% increase in the odds of preterm birth.
Babies and Children Face Growing Heat Exposure
According to the report, babies under one year of age experienced 389% more heatwave days in 2024 compared with the 1986–2005 baseline period.
Globally, an estimated 1.5 billion children are exposed to heatwaves that are becoming more frequent, longer or more severe.
Bruce Gordon, Director a.i. of WHO’s Department of Environment, Climate Change, One Health and Migration, said the growing threat of extreme heat requires stronger health monitoring and targeted action to protect vulnerable populations.
“As our world continues to heat up, it creates new risks for health, and older people, pregnant women, newborns and children are among those least able to escape them,” Gordon said.
“Our health systems need the data to recognize this reality and take action – from protecting people during heatwaves to embedding climate risk consideration into everyday health services.”
New Indicators to Track Heat-Related Health Outcomes
The report recommends that countries monitor key health outcomes associated with extreme heat, including preterm births, stillbirths, low birthweight, pregnancy hypertension, child deaths and visits to health facilities during periods of extreme temperatures.
It also recommends monitoring school attendance to help identify how extreme heat disrupts children’s education and daily lives.
Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO’s Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, said tracking these indicators would help countries identify potential health impacts and respond more effectively.
“Heat is already affecting our most vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, newborns and children. But what health systems do not count, they cannot respond to,” Allotey said.
“By tracking outcomes such as preterm birth, child deaths and illnesses, and health-facility visits alongside heat exposure, countries can identify potential impacts and take action to protect women and children.”
Data to Strengthen Early Warning and Health Services
The framework recommends combining routine health records with heat-exposure data, including air temperature, to identify possible links between extreme heat and unusual changes in health outcomes.
This approach can help countries investigate emerging risks during heatwaves and take appropriate action based on the findings.
The information could also help health authorities prepare healthcare facilities for increased demand, strengthen heat warnings for pregnant women and families, identify communities facing the greatest risks and improve heat-health planning.
WHO Urges Countries to Strengthen Heat-Health Plans
With extreme heat becoming an increasingly common feature of a warming world, WHO is calling on governments to improve their capacity to monitor and respond to its health impacts.
The organisation said the new priority indicators could help governments identify risks, target interventions and protect pregnant women, newborns and children from preventable harm.
WHO also urged countries to develop and implement context-specific heat-health action plans that address the needs of vulnerable populations, strengthen early warning systems and trigger timely responses when heat risks emerge.
Share this
