Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 15;19(24):16867.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192416867.

Climate Change and African Migrant Health

Omolara Sanni  1 , Bukola Salami  1 , Folajinmi Oluwasina  1 , Folakemi Ojo  1 , Megan Kennedy  2
Affiliations

Climate Change and African Migrant Health

Omolara Sanni et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Climate change exacerbates existing sociopolitical and economic vulnerabilities, undermining livelihoods, inflating the risk of conflict, and making it difficult for people to remain stable. In 2019, around 25 million new displacements occurred due to natural disasters. This review aims to summarize the existing evidence regarding the impact of climate change on the health of African immigrants.

Methods: Nine databases were systematically searched using a strategy developed in collaboration with a subject librarian. Potentially relevant articles were identified, screened, and reviewed by at least two reviewers, with a third reviewer resolving conflicts where necessary. Data were extracted from relevant articles using a standardized form.

Results: Seven studies (three cross-sectional, two qualitative, one cohort, and one need assessment report) were identified; they included different categories of African migrants and reported on various aspects of health. The included articles report on climate change, e.g., flooding, drought, and excess heat, resulting in respiratory illness, mental health issues, malnutrition, and premature mortality among African immigrants.

Conclusion: This review suggests climate change adversely affects the physical, mental, and social health of African immigrants. It also highlights a knowledge gap in evidence related to the impact of climate change on the health of African immigrants.

Keywords: IDPs; climate change; migration; refugees.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram of article selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) Dec, 2019. [(accessed on 10 December 2022)]. Available online: https://www.internal-displacement.org/media-centres/internal-displacemen....
    1. Tanner T., Lewis D., Wrathall D., Bronen R., Cradock-Henry N., Huq S., Lawless C., Nawrotzki R., Prasad V., Rahman M.A., et al. Livelihood resilience in the face of climate change. Nat. Clim. Chang. 2015;5:23–26. doi: 10.1038/nclimate2431. - DOI
    1. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Generation 2030 Africa 2.0. Nov, 2017. [(accessed on 10 December 2022)]. Available online: https://data.unicef.org/resources/generation-2030-africa-2-0/
    1. Black R., Adger W.N., Arnell N.W., Dercon S., Geddes A., Thomas D. The effect of environmental change on human migration. Glob. Environ. Chang. 2011;21:S3–S11. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.001. - DOI
    1. Watts N., Amann M., Arnell N., Ayeb-Karlsson S., Belesova K., Boykoff M., Cai W., Campbell-Lendrum D., Capstick S., Chambers J., et al. The 2019 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: Ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate. Lancet. 2019;394:1836–1878. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32596-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types