Citation

Naidoo K, Manyangadze T, Lokotola CL. Afr. J. Prim. Health Care Fam. Med. 2022; 14(1): e1-e2.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, OpenJournals Publishing)

DOI

10.4102/phcfm.v14i1.3778

PMID

36546500

PMCID

PMC9772755

Abstract

Primary health care facilities are at the forefront of helping communities affected by natural disasters. However, such facilities are also vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather events triggered by climate change. The April 2022 floods in the south-eastern region of South Africa claimed the lives of over 400 people, the loss of 16 000 houses and resulted in major damage to infrastructure. Most damage was localised in the eThekwini area in KwaZulu-Natal, which is the country's third most populous city. This report describes the impact of the floods on primary health care facilities in eThekwini and their preparedness for extreme weather events.

Contribution: Extreme weather events induced by climate change highlight the need for primary health care facilities to develop disaster management strategies that consider climate change.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; South Africa; Weather; *Disasters; climate change; *Disaster Planning/methods; *Extreme Weather; disaster management, extreme weather.; flooding; primary care facility; Primary Health Care