Mountain regions of Central Asia as factors of possible occurring tropical diseases

Abstract

Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea to the west of China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north, where the enormous mountain region is allocated with a large population of mountain inhabitants. Meanwhile, over the past decades the number of emergency situations in Central Asia has greatly increased due to globally rising temperature. These factors have a direct impact on human health and accordingly, on the health system as a whole. In addition to this, climate change can cause an increase in the incidence of diseases of the cardiovascular system, infectious diseases, transmitted through water intestinal infections, including malaria, as well as diseases carried by ticks. Wellbeing of mountain populations, in comparison with flat territories, demands essentially big biological and physical power expenses. Climate warming promotes to the development of many infectious and parasitic diseases. According to the World Bank’s report “Adapting to Climate Change in Europe and Central Asia”, the impacts of increase of temperature can bring to profound consequences for public health. Examples of the most direct and obvious threats to the health of mountain population are infectious diseases spread through contaminated water, and vector-borne diseases such as tick-borne encephalitis, dengue fever, malaria and etc. We believe that it is necessary to include the project “Development of Prevention Measures on Tropical Diseases in Mountain Regions of Central Asia” into the World Bank’s Program “Adaptation of Europe and Central Asia to Climate Change”. In the present papers, details on factors which might lead to possible occurring of tropical diseases in Central Asian regions, and prevention measures have been discussed.

Keywords

• Central Asia; Kyrgyzstan; Tropical disease; Tropical medicine