There is a vast chasm between the interest shown on the health impact of climate change and the research taking place in the sector.

According to a new study published in the scientific journal The Lancet , while most news articles on the impact of climate change on health are published in Asia, more than half the research, however, continues to focus, primarily, on the impact felt in Europe and America.

The Lancet paper notes that in just the last decade, a marked increase has been seen in the number of published research linking health and climate change — from 94 reports in 2007 to over 275 in both 2015 and 2016.

A similar trend has also been seen in media coverage on the issue, with a huge 78 per cent increase, “largely driven by South-East Asian newspapers.”

The paper says the “average coverage of health and climate change was higher (in Asia) than in other regions, particularly among Indian sources.”

Asian countries, including India, and particularly the island nations in South-East Asia, are seen to be facing the biggest threat from the impact of climate change, particularly global warming, resulting in higher interest — political as well as social.

However, this change in public discourse has failed to translate into research.

Of the 2,000 research papers identified by The Lancet , under a third (30 per cent) focussed on Europe, and a similar number (29 per cent) focussed on the Americas.

Inequality

Calling this a demonstration of “marked global inequality in the science of health and climate change”, the report further said that only 10 per cent of the articles had a focus on Africa or the eastern Mediterranean region.

Even with the Americas, a vast chunk of the reports (72 per cent) were about health and climate change in the more affluent North America.

The Lancet has also drawn a parallel between the geo-political engagement on climate change and the world of science.

According to it, a sharp upward trend was seen in the volume of scientific reports in 2007-09 and from 2012 — the two periods coinciding “with the run-up to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Copenhagen in 2009 and in Paris in 2015.”

Making a good case for keeping the pressure up on governments across the globe, the paper said: “This pattern suggests that scientific and political engagement in health and climate change are closely linked, with the scientific community responding quickly to the global climate change agenda and the need for evidence.”

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