Jakarta - Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Sunday climate change-related diseases kill about 150,000 people annually in the country, calling on the people to help reduce the impact of climate change.
“We are reminding people of the need for them to heed their environment and help reduce the impact of climate change on health," the minister was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying, while addressing a function held to observe the World Health Day here on Sunday.
According a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change was estimated to have killed 150,000 people a year since the 1970s.
Siti said that climate change has caused increase in the vectors` population of a number of diseases, including malaria, chikungunya and dengue fever.
She called on the people to help safeguard the environment and reduce the impact of climate change on health by preserving water resources, clearing mosquito nest and increasing their nutritional intake.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com (14 April 2008)