UNICEF / SOUTH ASIA CHILDREN HIGH TEMPERATURES

STORY: UNICEF / SOUTH ASIA CHILDREN HIGH TEMPERATURES
TRT: 01:32
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: NATS
DATELINE: FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE - MARCH 2019, BANGLADESH

1. Wide shot, buses and cycles on busy street in Dhaka, Bangladesh
2. Wide shot, trucks on dirt road in Dhaka, Bangladesh
3. Wide shot, busy street in Dhaka, Bangladesh
4. Close up, children sleeping outside in Dhaka, Bangladesh
5. Med shot, children sleeping outside in Dhaka, Bangladesh
6. Med shot, child in boat on swelled Kirtankhola river
7. Wide shot, child on bank of Kirtankhola river where her home was washed away

FILE - 30 AUGUST 2021, MORIGAON DISTRICT, ASSAM STATE, INDIA

8. Wide shot, children in washed out area in Morigaon district, Assam state
9. Wide shot, children in washed out area in Morigaon district, Assam state

FILE - 3 NOVEMBER 2022, JACOBABAD, SINDH PROVINCE, PAKISTAN

10. Wide shot, child collects water from a tube-well

FILE - JUNE 2023, PAKISTAN

11. Close up, back of young boy's head, dry cracked earth surrounding
12. Wide shot, boy walks across dry cracked earth
13. Wide shot, boy walks through field of cracked earth
14. Med shot, following boy’s feet across cracked earth
15. Med shot, man fanning himself
16. Med shot, man in shop with fan behind
17. Med shot, man in shop with fan behind
18. Med shot, man drinking from pipe
19. Med shot, woman drinking and washing up with water

STRORYLINE:

South Asia has the highest percentage of children exposed to extreme high temperatures, compared to all other regions, according to a UNICEF analysis. UNICEF estimates that 76 percent of children under 18 in South Asia – 460 million – are exposed to extreme high temperatures where 83 or more days in a year exceed 35°C.

This means that 3 in 4 children in South Asia are already exposed to extreme high temperature compared to only 1 in 3 children (32 percent) globally. The analysis is of 2020 data, the latest available.

In addition, the data also show that 28 percent of children across South Asia are exposed to 4.5 or more heatwaves per year, compared to 24 percent globally.

July was the hottest month ever recorded globally, raising further concerns about a future where children, including those living in South Asia, are expected to face more frequent and severe heatwaves, largely due to climate change.

“With the world at global boiling, the data clearly show that the lives and well-being of millions of children across South Asia are increasingly threatened by heat waves and high temperatures. Countries in the region are not the hottest in the world right now but the heat here brings life-threatening risks for millions of vulnerable children,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia.

“We are particularly concerned about babies, toddlers, malnourished children and pregnant women as they are most vulnerable to heat strokes and other serious effects.”

According to UNICEF’s 2021 Children's Climate Risk Index (CCRI), children in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, and Pakistan are at 'extremely high risk' of the impacts of climate change.

In parts of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, including Jacobabad, the world’s hottest city in 2022, temperatures were in their 40’s in June, exposing 1.8 million people to severe short- and long-term health risks. The scorching heat came less than one year after the devastating floods which left most parts of southern Sindh underwater in August 2022. More than 800,000 children in flood-affected areas were at risk of severe heat stress in June 2023.

Even in the rainy season, the heat can exacerbate the situation for children. Since children cannot adapt quickly to temperature changes, they are not able to remove excess heat from their bodies. This can cause symptoms and illnesses such as higher body temperature, rapid heartbeat, cramps, severe headache, confusion, organ failure, dehydration, fainting and coma, in young children; poor mental development in infants; and developmental setbacks such as neurological dysfunction, and cardiovascular diseases. Early contractions, hypertension, seizures, high blood pressure, preterm births and stillbirths are risks for pregnant women, who are particularly susceptible to heat.

For young children, ice packs, fans or misting with water can help lower their body temperature, while cold water immersion can help older children.
Education, awareness, and preparedness are key to responding to this crisis.

During high temperatures, UNICEF urges frontline workers, parents, families, caregivers and local authorities to protect children and B.E.A.T. the heat by taking the following steps: BE AWARE of heat stress and protect yourself and your children. Take preventive measures and recognize heat stress and know what actions to take; EASILY IDENTIFY the symptoms. Recognize the symptoms of various heat-related illnesses that caregivers, communities and front-line workers need to know; ACT IMMEDIATELY to protect. Learn the first-aid actions that caregivers and front-line workers need to take to rebalance body heat in the short term; and TAKE to a health facility. Front-line workers, families and caregivers should recognize the symptoms of heat stress symptoms immediately, especially signs of heat stroke, and help take affected people to a health facility.

Ultimately, the most vulnerable children, adolescents and women are the ones that pay the highest price for extreme weather events.

“Young children simply cannot handle the heat,” added Wijesekera. “Unless we act now, these children will continue to bear the brunt of more frequent and more severe heatwaves in the coming years, for no fault of theirs.”