Extreme heat is killing 400 children a year: UNICEF

New Delhi: Rising temperatures across Europe and Central Asia are killing nearly 400 children a year according to report published by UNICEF on Wednesday.

Based on data from 23 countries across the region, UNICEF said 377 children died in 2021. It also revealed that heat-related illnesses claimed the lives of half of those vulnerable youngsters in the first year of their lives.

According to UNICEF, heat exposure can have acute effects on a child even before they are born which can lead to pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth, and congenital anomalies.

The agency also noted that heat stress can directly lead to death, affect infant growth and be a gateway to paediatric diseases.

Further, UNICEF said that “extreme heat caused the loss of more than 32,000 years of healthy life among children and teenagers in the region.”

“Around half of children across Europe and Central Asia – or 92 million children – are already exposed to frequent heatwaves in a region where temperatures are rising at the fastest rate globally,” Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia said.

2024 has seen record high temperatures with this June registering as Earth’s hottest on record. It was the thirteenth record-setting month in a row.

UNICEF is urging governments in Europe and Central Asia to invest in “heat health action plans and primary healthcare to more adequately support heat-related illness among children.”