WHO head: 150 million people in Europe live in extreme heat conditions
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported on the social network X that currently about 150 million residents of Europe are living in conditions of extreme heat.
According to the head of the agency, the abnormal weather has already led to hundreds of deaths and the forced closure of educational institutions. Ghebreyesus emphasized that the European continent is warming twice as fast as other regions of the planet. Due to global warming and climate changes, critical temperature peaks, which were previously recorded once per generation, now occur almost every year.
According to official WHO data, since June 21 of this year, 1,300 more deaths have been registered in Europe compared to the average statistical indicators of previous periods, which is directly related to the established heat. The head of the organization described heat stress as a “silent killer,” noting that residential buildings, schools, and other infrastructure facilities in European countries were historically not designed for such temperature loads. In this regard, WHO, together with member states and partners, is developing measures to reduce risks to public health, focusing on prevention and adaptation of health systems. In particular, Ghebreyesus called on European governments to promptly implement comprehensive action plans to protect health in hot weather.
