Over 15,000 Victorians attend hospitals every year because of climate-change related heat exposure, study finds
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A Monash-led study of 460 communities and 6.3+ million hospital visits across Victoria has found that heat exposure was associated with significantly increased risks of hospital admissions and emergency department visits, particularly among women, in rural areas, and in northern communities, contributing to over AU$30 million in healthcare costs annually.
The study, led by Professor Yuming Guo and Professor Shandy Li from the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and published in the journal Environmental Health, collected over 6.3 million daily hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits during the hot seasons from 2014 to 2019 in Victoria, Australia.
The research team found that heat exposure was responsible for 4574 hospital admissions and 10,920 ED visits annually in Victoria. The annual costs of these climate-related hospital visits exceeded $30 million.
According to the study, human-induced climate change increased heat-related hospitalisations by 27.25 per cent and ED visits by 16.46 per cent.
The study also found that urban areas were more sensitive to human-induced climate change than rural areas, with human-induced climate change contributing to 31.28 per cent of heat-related hospitalisations and 21.14 per cent of heat-related ED visits.
Climate change has led to a continuous rise in ambient temperatures, with the average global temperature from 2014 to 2023 1.2°C higher than the average temperature from 1850 to 1900. According to Professor Li, “human activities are the main driver of this warming trend, increasing the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heat events,” she said.
“With the continued rise in global temperatures, heat may become the primary cause of health outcomes due to non-optimal temperatures with heat exposure increasing the risk of health outcomes, as well as substantial attributable healthcare costs under current and projected climate scenarios.”
About Monash University
Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 80,000 students. In the 60 years since its foundation, it has developed a reputation for world-leading high-impact research, quality teaching, and inspiring innovation.
With four campuses in Australia and a presence in Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Italy, it is one of the most internationalised Australian universities.
As a leading international medical research university with the largest medical faculty in Australia and integration with leading Australian teaching hospitals, we consistently rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical and health sciences.
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