Browsing by Author "MWELWA, Tresina M"

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    An assessment of the effects of climate change on human health: A case of Bangweulu Constituency
    (University of Lusaka, 2025) MWELWA, Tresina M
    A study was undertaken in Bangweulu Constituency with the aim of assessing the effects of climate change on human health. The research was anchored on the following specific objectives: to identify the common climate change related hazards in Bangweulu Constituency; to find out the common climate change impacts in the study area and to find out how the health sector is negatively impacted by climate change in the study area. The study adopted a qualitative methodology with a sample of 60 respondents from three wards of Chimana, Mano and Katansha that were drawn using a non-probability sampling. In terms of data collection methods, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used. Data were analyzed using thematic approach and reflected the objectives, alongside triangulation with literature review. The study's findings indicated that climate change has led to increased occurrences of diseases such as malaria, scabies, waterborne illnesses, respiratory issues, and malnutrition due to poor nutrition. The study observed that the damage floods were causing to the environment, infrastructure such as roads, health facilities and bridges impacted so heavily on the development of the health sector. The study concluded that all these were consequently affecting the performance of the health sector in addressing the disease outbreaks caused by climate change. In view of the findings, the study recommended that government needed to develop a robust climate-health model for quantifying the relationships between climate variability and disease prevalence in flood prone areas like Bangweulu. Investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of mitigation and adaptive measures of climate change in the country and also assess the effectiveness of targeted public health programs in addressing and mitigating the impacts of climate change related health hazards, such as increased vector-borne diseases and heat-related illnesses, in the Bangweulu constituency.