Scientists have been warning for years that Spain is one of the countries most affected by the increase in temperatures. But, despite this and once again, plans to prevent the consequences of heat are delayed. Yesterday, the Public Health commission of the Ministry of Health approved bringing the prevention plan forward to May 15, while Catalonia already activated it yesterday, a month and a half earlier than usual.
Public health experts consulted by La Vanguardia believe that, given the evidence, measures must be taken now to reduce the negative effects on the health of the most vulnerable, but also to adopt the appropriate decisions so that children can be at school and professionals carry out their work safely.
Along these lines, the director of the Center for the Coordination of Alerts and Emergencies, Fernando Simón, advocates incorporating the risks of climate change into the work culture. "It is not only a matter of taking measures but of incorporating them into our way of thinking and acting," he says, while advocating "modifying work habits because the heat at noon is going to cause deaths, it is already doing so."
Julio Díaz, a researcher at the Carlos III Health Institute, calls for “developing prevention plans against heat waves that are based on the real incidence of temperatures, and not on the calendar. And the administrations have to take seriously that this problem is going to happen every year”.
Díaz calls for real planning to address this issue beyond improvisations based on emergencies such as the need to protect children in schools (who "live in jails, in patios without trees...") or others.
In this sense, remember that deaths from heat waves are due to exacerbation of other pathologies, due to neurological, cardiovascular or respiratory problems. “The trigger temperatures for heat waves are calculated for the population that dies, that is, the elderly, not children. Before acting we should know at what temperature heat affects children, ”he says.
“Those who suffer the most from heat waves are the elderly, they are the ones who die. Only 2% of deaths that occur from heat waves are due to heat stroke ”, he points out.
This specialist considers that at the municipal level the first priority is the preparation of prevention plans designed specifically for each city to find out under what conditions certain types of diseases are triggered, but taking into account that "Madrid is not the same as Barcelona, or Barcelona than Soria”, he highlights.
It is also key to determine when they should be applied, for which “very clear action protocols in health matters” are needed.
It is also key to determine when they should be applied, and for which they are needed with "very clear action protocols in health" to know how to manage risks. They are early warning and public health plans. "You have to take adaptation measures, yes, make cities green and all that, but the first thing is to save lives," he highlights.
Health has updated the temperature thresholds to adapt them to risk levels (they were working with data from 2009) and has launched a Subscription Service for Temperatures and Risk Levels via SMS or e-mail for citizens who thus require it on a given province.
