Health today activates a more precise heat map to mitigate its impact on health
The summer of 2023 was the hottest since records began and forecasts for the coming months suggest that temperatures could once again be record highs. With this panorama on the horizon, the Ministry of Health has presented a more precise map to measure the impact of heat on health, now divided into more than 180 geographical zones, each of which has a maximum temperature threshold associated with it. which one mortality skyrockets and a series of measures to prevent it.
The new map maintains the 52 provincial reference units that the previous ones had, one for each provincial capital plus the autonomous cities, but this year it adds more than a hundred meteohealth zonesareas of territory that maintain a homogeneous temperature behavior and of which there may be several in a single province.
So, the map of studied areas rises from 52 to 182as contemplated in the National Plan for Preventive Actions on the Effects of Excess Temperatures on Health, which the Ministry has been using for more than 20 years to calculate the effects of heat on health and which will be in force – at least, now which can be extended if circumstances so require – until September 30.
Since last May 16, alerts have been active at the provincial level, since the Interministerial Commission for the effective application of the National Plan for Preventive Actions on the Effects of Excess Temperatures on Health decided to postpone until today the implementation of the new areas of meteohealth.
For each of these areas, and with the information provided daily by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet)the plan assigns a maximum temperature threshold from which the harmful effects of heat are triggered and which, given the enormous geographical variability of Spain, are not the same everywhere.
Risk thresholds
Thus, the plan reserves the highest limits for the Andalusian capitals (ranging from 35.5 degrees in Almería and 37.2 in Malaga to 40.5 in Seville and 41.4 in Córdoba, the highest in all of Spain), Extremadura (37.2 in Cáceres and 40 in Badajoz) and Murcia (38.8).
In Castilla-La Mancha, they range between 36 in Cuenca, 37.9 in Toledo and 38.1 in Ciudad Real; In Aragon, the maximum threshold is Zaragoza (38) compared to 36.7 in Teruel and 34.5 in Huesca and in Catalonia, Lleida has the highest value (37.9) and Barcelona the lowest (31).
Madrid is assigned 35.6 degrees; La Rioja 34.5 and Navarra, 34.4; In Galicia there is the greatest variability, with 27.5 in A Coruña but 37.4 in Ourense; In Castilla y León, the risk threshold is 36.1 degrees in Zamora, 36.9 in Valladolid and 35.3 in Salamanca, which drops to values around 33 in the rest.
The same 33 degrees or a little more are set for Araba and Bizkaia, Las Palmas, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, and a few tenths less in Alicante (31.8) and Castellón (32.8). The lowest values are found in Cantabria (26.6) and Asturias (26.4).
For each degree that the ambient temperature exceeds these thresholds, the risk of mortality attributable to high temperatures increases between 9.1% and 10.7%, that is, for each day that there is an episode of extreme heat, the mortality It increases, on average, by 3 deaths a day.
Depending on the number of days in which these thresholds are exceeded, the plan determines four risk levels, ranging from ‘Level 0’ to ‘Level 3’, each of which includes a series of measures to coordinate all agents involved, from the different ministries and regional officials to health professionals and social services.
This Monday, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, also presented the ‘Health Effects of High Temperatures’ campaign with the motto “Protect yourself, hydrate, cool down and remember them.”
“Protecting yourself from the heat is the best way to enjoy a safe summer,” stressed the minister, who emphasized that climate change “is one of the biggest threats to health of the 21st century” that “is already affecting our health”.
The campaign aims to ensure that “the population adopts self-protection and care habits that reduce the impact of heat on their health.”
Heat culture
In that sense, he has emphasized the idea of spreading “the culture of heat” in the population. In the traditionally hotter areas there is already this culture of heat that allows better protection for its inhabitants, an approach that must be transferred to “areas that traditionally were not so hot in summer and that now, due to climate change, are going to be so.” “, like the peninsular Northwest.
The European Copernicus satellite system has already warned that there is a high probability that this summer will once again be warmer than normal, the minister warned, recalling the serious damage that high temperatures can have on health.
According to MoMo estimates (Daily Mortality Monitoring System from all causes), the excess mortality attributable to temperature between 2015 and 2023 was 21,774 deaths. The year 2022, with 4,789 deaths attributable to heat, was the year with the most excesses followed by 2023, with 3,009 deaths.
“He climate denialism is harmful to health,” García stressed. “Climate denialism and also the political positions that whitewash it,” he continued, highlighting that “denying the reality of climate change is putting the health of the population at risk, so “The first step to confront this climate emergency is to forcefully reject those discourses that support it.”
“There are no healthy people on a sick planet,” he added.
The risks associated with heat are due to the fact that exposure to high temperatures can cause the body’s thermoregulatory system to malfunction and the body is unable to compensate for variations in body temperature. The most vulnerable are the elderly, small children, as well as patients with chronic diseases, undergoing certain medical treatments and with disabilities that limit their autonomy.
Heat waves are especially harmful since excess mortality has been associated with periods of 3 or more consecutive days of unusual high temperatures.
General recommendations to prevent the effects of high temperatures on health
1. Drink water and liquids frequently, even if you do not feel thirsty and regardless of the physical activity you do.
2. Avoid drinks with caffeine, alcohol or very sugary, as they can promote dehydration.
3. Although anyone can suffer a problem related to heat, pay special attention to: babies and minors, infants and pregnant women, as well as older people or people with diseases that can be aggravated by heat (such as heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes , hypertension, obesity, cancer, pathologies that hinder mobility, dementia and other mental illnesses, as well as drug or alcohol abuse).
4. Stay as long as possible in cool, shaded or heated places, and refresh yourself whenever you need to.
5. Try to reduce physical activity and avoid doing outdoor sports in the middle of the day.
6. Wear light, loose-fitting, breathable clothing.
7. Never leave anyone in a parked and closed vehicle (especially minors, elderly people or people with chronic illnesses).
8. Consult your health professional if symptoms last more than an hour and may be related to high temperatures.
9. Keep your medicines in a cool place; Heat can alter its composition and effects.
10. Eat light meals that help replace the salts lost through sweat (salads, fruits, vegetables, juices, etc.).