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Climate change acting as catalyst for disease outbreak Zandile.Khumalo Mon, 06/16/2025 - 11:47 KIGALI- Climate change poses a growing and potentially disastrous threat to global health, acting as a catalyst for outbreaks of new and re-emerging diseases. A recent report published in the South African Journal of Science highlights the primary climate hazards driving the spread of vector-borne, waterborne, and airborne illnesses. The report identifies warming effects, variations in precipitation levels, and floods as the key climate-related factors that promote the proliferation of these diseases. READ | Hlabisa: Govt looking at ways to minimise impact of climate change The Director at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation Professor Tulio De Oliveira, says South Africa’s health surveillance systems is among the strongest in the world, particularly when it comes to the early detection of pathogens.This is because the countries surveillance programmes are robust. De Oliveira says this was evident during the 2023 cholera outbreak in Pretoria, However, De Oliveira, admits that while the health system is strong the country remains under prepared to handle extreme climate events.“This is clear when you look at what happened in Durban a few years ago and now again in the Eastern Cape with the deadly floods,” he added.Despite these challenges, De Oliveira says South Africa still has a fighting chance in preventing a climate-induced health crisis.He says scientifically and medically, South Africa is advancing in its ability to develop biomedical countermeasures including vaccines. We are trying to advance but again it is a armed race. As we try to advance the surveillance and the development of therapeutics and vaccines, the climate gets more extreme. So unfortunately the interaction between climate change and diseases will not be fun, De Oliveira says.

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