Climate change is directly affecting the survival of newborns in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) across the world, a new study has found.
According to the paper published in journal Nature Communications on June 29, 2024, the upward shift in temperatures observed over the last two decades as a result of climate change has significantly increased the number of neonatal deaths by increasing heat-related mortality while simultaneously decreasing the toll from cold temperatures.
The findings indicated that both high and low ambient temperatures pose a risk to neonatal health in LMICs, with 4.3 per cent of neonatal deaths during the study period (2001-2019) attributable to non-optimal temperatures.
The study discovered that, while neonates are more vulnerable to cold than heat, very young neonates (0-1 days of age) appear to be at a higher risk of dying from heat-related causes.
The researchers used Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 29 low- and middle-income countries to estimate the temperature-related burden of neonatal deaths caused by climate change from 2001 to 2019.
Climate change was responsible for 32 per cent of heat-related neonatal deaths, while reducing the respective cold-related burden by 30 per cent. Climate change has impacted temperature-related neonatal deaths in all study countries, with most pronounced climate-induced losses from increased heat and gains from decreased cold observed in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, cited the study.
The four countries with the highest overall neonatal mortality rates were Pakistan, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria with 160 neonatal deaths per 100,000 live births.
“In terms of temperature ranges, moderately hot and moderately cold temperatures were responsible for the largest fraction of temperature-related neonatal deaths across all locations,” according to the study led by Asya Dimitrova, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
The heat-related neonatal deaths in the factual scenario represented a 46 per cent increase compared to a counterfactual scenario without climate change. The contribution of climate change to heat-related neonatal mortality was largest in the Philippines (79 per cent), Haiti (79 per cent) and Rwanda (70 per cent). In contrast, from 2001 to 2019, climate change reduced the burden of cold-related neonatal deaths by an average of 30 per cent.
Excess heat caused by climate change has had an impact on neonatal mortality rates in all study countries, with Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Haiti experiencing the greatest increases (30 per 100,000). Liberia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Guinea saw the greatest positive effects (110 per 100,000) from reduced cold-related neonatal mortality.
Overall, the impacts of climate change on temperature-related neonatal mortality were largest in countries that had relatively high baseline neonatal mortality rates and at the same time experienced large temperature increases due to climate change: Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mali, Guinea, Benin, Cameroon, Nigeria, Angola, Timor-Leste and Haiti.
The countries where very early neonatal mortality was most prevalent also recorded some of the highest temperature-related mortality rates — Liberia, Angola, and Timor-Leste. As with overall neonatal deaths, moderately hot and cold temperatures rather than the extremes dominated the temperature-related very early neonatal mortality burden.
The findings highlighted the need for public health interventions to protect newborns in LMICs from low and high ambient temperatures.
Globally 2.3 million children died in the first 20 days of life in 2022. Children continue to face different chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and southern and central Asia bearing the heaviest burden for newborn deaths.