Scoop Report: Global warming and changes to the earth's environment are accelerating the spread of diseases. These facts have been revealed in the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP). yearbook.

“In the nineteen seventies the disease dengue fever was prevalent in nine countries. Today it is found in about 100 countries”, said Marion Cheatle, one of the authors of the yearbook.

Also the spread of Malaria was closely connected with the intervention of mankind into the environment. Research has shown, six per cent of all Malaria cases of the past 25 years have been caused by climate change.

A warmer climate encourages the multiplication of Malaria transmitting mosquitoes. The mosquitoes also have found new breeding areas when rain forests are cut down or when mine workers have left cavities in the ground. The cavities and felled areas fill with water and mosquitoes thrive.

“In an intact environment it is easier to hold the agents at bay”, said Cheatle. Globally, infectious diseases account for a quarter of all causes of death and in Africa infectious diseases account for two thirds of deaths.