Abstract
The study aims to present the data on the frequency and severity of disasters brought about by climate change in the Philippines, the common diseases in affected communities, the immediate health effects after a natural disaster and the preceding environmental risk factors, as well as the epidemics that have plagued the country for the past years. Data were gathered from records of local and international agencies. The Philippines is highly vulnerable and has actually hosted floods, landslides, typhoons resulting from climate change. The Philippines is fourth among countries that are most exposed to multiple hazards due to natural disasters with a risk exposure covering 22.3% of total area, and 36.4% of population being affected. Climate change is an aggravating factor to the occurrence of natural disasters such as typhoons and droughts as these have the potential to adversely affect human societies. Additionally, the Philippines is the third country with the highest risk for natural disasters, after Vanuatu and Tonga, based on the World Risk Index 2018. The study showed that there are immediate adverse health effects of natural disasters. Drought brings about protein malnutrition; destruction of water and sewerage systems bring about unsanitary conditions that harbor communicable diseases; and variations in climate implicate changes in patterns of occurrences of vector-borne diseases. The study also showed that most common communicable diseases arising from disasters and emergencies include diarrhea, acute respiratory infection, measles and malaria. In the international scene, cholera, diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, measles, meningitis, tetanus, diarrhea, leptospirosis, acute respiratory syndrome, coccidiomycosis, and malaria were reported to be the major epidemics after a type of natural disaster. Natural disaster can inhibit economic development of the nation, and therefore, the Philippines is challenged to come up with and implement a comprehensive disaster preparedness and mitigation measures for disasters and health epidemics.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) (2001) The Philippine disaster management story: issues and challenges. Thailand
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (2016) AADMER Work Program. Retrieved from https://www.asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/AADMER-Work-Programme-2016–2020-v1.6.pdf on 5 Dec 2019
Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft (2011) World Risk Report 2011. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/WorldRiskReport-2018.pdf on 5 Dec 2019
Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft (2018) World Risk Report 2018. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/WorldRiskReport-2018.pdf on 5 Dec 2019
Calamur K (2013) World headline: the financial cost of typhoon haiyan. national public radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/11/12/244701849/world-headlines-the- financial-cost-of-typhoon-haiyan on 9 Dec 2019
Cannon T (2007) Integrating disaster risk reduction into the millennium development goals: review of activities up to the present. international strategy for disaster reduction. Retrieved from https://www.unisdr.org/files/766_Desk_Review_Report_MDGs_HFA_Oct07_ActionAid%5B1%5D.pdf on 5 Dec 2019
Cappelli F, Costantini V, Consoli D (2021) The trap of climate change- induced “natural” disasters and inequality. Glob Environ Chang 70:102329
Castro MC (2017) Malaria transmission and prospects for malaria eradication: the role of the environment. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 7(10):a025601
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Key Facts About Eruptions. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/volcanoes/facts.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) Food and waterborne diarrheal disease. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/food_waterborne.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Malaria. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/faqs.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Bacterial Meningitis. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/bacterial.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Cholera – Vibrio cholerae infection. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/cholera/illness.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Diphtheria. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/diphtheria/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Heat Stress. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/heatstress/default.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Epidemic Typhus. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/typhus/epidemic/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Extreme heat can impact our health in many ways. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/pubs/extreme-heat-final_508.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/resources/dengue&DHF%20information%20for%20Health%20Care%20Practitioners_2009.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Tetanus. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/tetanus/about/causes-transmission.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Health Implications of Drought. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/drought/implications.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Tick-borne Relapsing Fever. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/relapsing-fever/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Shigella – Shigellosis. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/shigella/symptoms.html
de Ville de Goyet C (2004) Epidemics cause by dead bodies: a disaster myth that does not want to die. Am J Public Health 15(9). Retrieved from http://iris.paho.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/8238/22000.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y on 6 Dec 2019
Delfin F, Gaillard JC (2008) Extreme versus quotidian: addressing temporal dichotomies in Philippine disaster management. Public Admin Dev 28:190–199. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.493
Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP) (2007) Natural disasters: coping with the health impact. Available from http://www.dcp2.org. Accessed 18 March 2011
Domingo S (2017) Institutional issues on disaster risk and management. Philippine Institute of Development Studies. Retrieved from https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps1750. pdf on 5 Dec 2019
Du W, FitzGerald GJ, Clark M, Hou XY (2010) Health impacts of floods. Prehosp Disaster Med 25(3):265–272
Duque P (2005) Disaster management and critical issues on disaster risk reduction in the Philippines. International workshop on emergency response and rescue. Quezon City, Philippines
Dy P, Stephens T (2016) The Typhoon Haiyan response: strengthening coordination among Philippine Government, Civil Society, and International, Actors. Harvard Kennedy School Program on Crisis Leadership. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/research-initiatives/crisisleadership/files/Dy_and_Stephens.pdf on 9 December 2019
Economics of Climate Adaptation (ECA) (2009) Shaping climate-resilient development: a framework for decision-making. A Report of the Economics of Climate Adaptation Working Group.
Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). 2019. The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database. UCL − Brussels, Belgium. Available from http://www.em-dat.net
Esteban R and Fabian D (2004) The Philippine disaster management system. Malaysia. Available from http://www.pctc.gov.ph/updates/tpdms.htm. Accessed 18 April 2011
Felizco M, Zapanta J (2016) Drought and dry spell hits 58 provinces in the Philippines. Act Alliance. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ACT-Philippine-Forum-Alert-El-Nino-Alert-20160504.pdf on 9 Dec 2019
First JM, Houston JB (2020) The mental health impacts of successive disasters: examining the roles of individual and community resilience following a tornado and CoViD-19. Clin Soc Work J 50(2):124–134
Gunn SW (1995) Health effects of earthquakes. Disaster Prev Manag An Int J
Health Emergency Management Bureau (2014) Heroes at the frontline: health responders’ stories of haiyan. Department of Health
Hugelius K, Gifford M, Örtenwall P, Adolfsson A (2017) Health among disaster survivors and health professionals after the Haiyan Typhoon: a self-selected Internet-based web survey. Int J Emerg Med 10(1):13
Institute for Economics & Peace (2019) Global peace index 2019: measuring peace in a complex world, Sydney, June 2019. Retrieved from http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2019/06/GPI-2019-web003.pdf on 9 Dec 2019
Jha S, Martinez A, Quising P, Ardaniel Z, and Wang L (2018) Natural disasters, public spending, and creative destruction: a case study of the Philippines. ADBI Working Paper 817. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute. Available: https://www.adb.org/publications/natural-disasters-public-spending-and-creative-destruction-philippines
Kahn ME (2005) The death toll from natural disasters: the role of income, geography, and institutions. Rev Econ Stat 87 (2):271–284. doi:https://doi.org/10.1162/0034653053970339
Kouadio I, Alijunid S, Kamigaki T, Hammad K, Oshitani H (2012) Infectious diseases following natural disasters: prevention and control measures. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4871893/#CIT0014 on 6 Dec 2019
Kreft S, Eckstein D, Junghans L, Kerestan C, Hagen U (2015) The global climate risk index 2015. Retrieved from https://germanwatch.org/sites/germanwatch.org/files/publication/10333.pdf on 6 December 2019
Lew W, Vianzon R, Garfin AMC, Hall JL (2015) Restarting the tuberculosis programme post-Haiyan. West Pac Surveill Response J 6(Suppl 1):91
Lin S, Zhang W, Sheridan S, Mongillo M, DiRienzo S, Stuart NA, et al. (2021) The immediate effects of winter storms and power outages on multiple health outcomes and the time windows of vulnerability. Environ Res
Lu J (2016) Impact of climate change on human health. Acta Medica Philippina 50(2)
March G (2002) Natural Disasters and the Impacts on Health. Available from http://www.eird.org/isdr-biblio/PDF/Natural%20disasters%20and%20the%20impacts.pdf. Accessed 18 March 2011
Mavrouli M, Mavroulis S, Lekkas E, Tsakris A (2021) Respiratory infections following earthquake-induced tsunamis: transmission risk factors and lessons learned for disaster risk management. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(9):4952. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094952
Mori N, Takemi T, Tachikawa Y, Tatano H, Shimura T, Tanaka T et al (2021) Recent nationwide climate change impact assessments of natural hazards in Japan and East Asia. Weather Clim Extrem 32:100309
Murthy S, Christian M (2010) Infectious disease following disasters. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21149220 6 Dec 2019
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (n.d.) Overview: weather, global warming, and climate change. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming-vs-climate-change/ on 6 Dec 2019
National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) (2007) Philippine disaster management framework. Available from http://www.ndcc.gov.ph. Accessed 18 Apr 2011
National disaster risk reduction and management council (NDRRMC) (2011) Signing ceremony for the approval of the national disaster risk reduction and management framework. Retrieved from http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/1675/NDRRMC_Framework.pdf on 5 Dec 2019
NHS (2021) Causes typhoid fever. Available from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/typhoid-fever/causes/
OCHA (2013a) Philippines (Mindanao) humanitarian action. Plan-mid-year review. Geneva, New York: OCHA
OCHA (2013e) Philippines: Typhoon Bopha. Situation Report. No. 19. 12 February
Office of Civil Defense (OCD) (2019) NDRRMC, partners to conduct summit on national disaster resilience. Philippine Information Agency. Retrieved from https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1025210 on 5 Dec 2019
Oxfam International (n.d.) 5 Natural disasters that beg for climate action. Retrieved from https://www.oxfam.org/en/5-natural-disasters-beg-climate-action on 6 Dec 2019
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) (n.d.) Climate change in the Philippines. Retrieved from http://bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/information/climate-change-in-the-philippines on 9 Dec 2019
Pan American Health Organization (n.d.) Climate change and health. Available from https://www.paho.org/en/topics/climate-change-and-health
Pedroso K (2010) From NDCC to NDRRMC. The Philippine daily inquirer. Available from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20101020-298696/From-NDCC-to-NDRRMC. Accessed 18 April 2011
Perez R (2009) Climate change in the Philippines: presented at symposium on the economics of climate change in Southeast Asia. De La Salle University
IOM Philippines (2013) Typhoon Bopha Emergency Response. Situation Report. 05 March
Porio E, Cruz F, Narisma G, Yulo-Loyzaga A (2019) Drought and urbanization: the case of the Philippines: methods, approaches and practices. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8947-3_12. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330023534_Drought_and_Urbanization_The_Case_of_the_Philippines_Methods_Approaches_and_Practices on 9 Dec 2019
PreventionWeb (2011) Disaster Statistics. Available from http://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/. Accessed 9 March 2011
Prüss-Üstün A, Wolf J, Corvalán C, Bos R, Neira M (2016) Preventing disease through healthy environments: a global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks. World Health Organization. Available from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565196
Munich Re (1998) Topics: annual review of natural catastrophes 1997, Munich: Munich Re
ReliefWeb – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2009) Situation report Philippines – Typhoon Ondoy. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/situation-report-philippines-typhoon-ondoy on 9 Dec 2019
Rojas O, Li Y, Cumani R (2014) Understanding the drought impact of El Niño on the global agricultural areas: an assessment using FAO’s Agricultural Stress Index (ASI). Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4251e.pdf on 9 Dec 2019
Salazar M, Pesigan A, Law R, Winkler V (2016) Post-disaster health impact of natural hazards in the Philippines in 2013. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4871893/#CIT0014 on 6 Dec 2019
Sato T, Nakasu T (2011) 2009 typhoon Ondoy flood disasters in Metro Manila. Natural Disaster Research Report of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention. Retrieved from https://dil-opac.bosai.go.jp/publication/nied_natural_disaster/pdf/45/45-04E.pdf on 9 Dec 2019
Surmieda MR, Lopez JM, Abad-Viola G, Miranda ME, Abellanosa IP, Sadang RA, et al. (1992) Surveillance in evacuation camps after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines. MMWR CDC Surveill Summ.41:963
The Climate Reality Project (2016) How is climate change affecting the Philippines, Retrieved from https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/how-climate-change-affecting-philippines on 6 Dec 2019
Thomas B (2016) The case of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). World Bank, Washington DC. Retrieved from http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US2015601246 on 9 Dec 2019
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) (undated) Good Practices. Available http://www.unisdr.org/eng/media-room/facts-sheets/fs-good-practices.htm. Accessed 18 Apr 2011
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR).2009. ISDR (2009) Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Risk and Poverty in a Changing Climate. United Nations, Geneva
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) (2019) Hyogo Framework for Action. Retrieved from https://www.unisdr.org/we/coordinate/hfa on 5 Dec 2019
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) (n.d.) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Retrieved from https://www.preventionweb.net/sendai-framework/sendai-framework-for-drr on 5 Dec 2019
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) (n.d.) SGDs with targets related to disaster risk. Retrieved from https://www.preventionweb.net/sendai-framework/sdg/target on 5 Dec 2019
United Nations (2013) A renewed global partnership for development. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/glob_dev_rep_2013.pdf on 5 Dec 2019
United Nations (n.d.) Disaster Risk Reduction. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/disasterriskreduction on 5 Dec 2019
United States Environmental Protection Agency (n.d.) How smoke from fires can affect your health. Available from https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/how-smoke-fires-can-affect-your-health
US Geological Survey. (n.d.). How can climate change affect natural disasters? Available from https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-can-climate-change-affect-natural-disasters#faq
US Geological Survey (n.d.) What are the long-term effects of climate change? Available from https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-long-term-effects-climate-change
Veenema TG, Thornton CP, Lavin RP, Bender AK, Seal S, Corley A (2017) Climate change-related water disasters’ impact on population health. J Nurs Sch 2017(49):625–634. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12328.[PubMed][CrossRef][GoogleScholar]
Waddell SL, Jayaweera DT, Mirsaeidi M, Beier JC, Kumar N (2021) Perspectives on the health effects of hurricanes: a review and challenges. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(5):2756
Warner GS (2010) Increased incidence of domestic animal bites following a disaster due to natural hazards. Prehosp Disaster Med 25(2):188–190
Watson JT, Gayer M, and Connolly MA (2007) Epidemics after natural disasters. Emerg Infect Dis 13 (1)
Watts N, Adger WN, Agnolucci P, Blackstock J, Byass P, Cai W et al (2015) Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health. Lancet 386(10006):1861–1914
Wendt U (2013) Typhoon Bopha and People Displacements in the Philippines. The State of Environmental Migration. Retrieved from http://labos.ulg.ac.be/hugo/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2017/11/The-State-of-Environmental-Migration-2013-33-46.pdf on 9 Dec 2019
World Health Organization (n.d.) Afghanistan Post-disaster measles campaign completed in flood-affected provinces. Available from https://www.emro.who.int/afg/afghanistan-news/measles-campaign-flood-provinces.html
World Health Organization (2002) Control of communicable diseases and prevention of epidemics. Available from http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/emergencies/em2002chap11.pdf. Accessed 18 March 2011
World Health Organization (2006) Communicable diseases following natural disasters: risk Assessment and priority interventions. WHO: Geneva. Available from http://www.who.int/diseasecontrol_emergencies/en/. Accessed 18 March 2011
World Health Organization (2010) Preventing the spread of disease after natural disasters. Available from http://pmmunc.synthasite.com/resources/PMMUNC3WHOPreventingDisease.pdf. Accessed 18 MARCH 2011
World Health Organization (2014) WHO Philippines Response to Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda): the first six months. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/hac/crises/phl/sitreps/philippines_six_months_from_haiyan_may2014.pdf on 10 Dec 2019
World Health Organization (2021) Climate change and health. Available from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
World Health Organization (2022) Hepatitis. Available from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-a
World Bank and the National Disaster Coordinating Council (2004) Natural disaster risk management in the Philippines: enhancing poverty alleviation through disaster reduction. Manila. Available from www.povertyenvironment.net/node/2031. Accessed 18 April 2011
World Bank (2005) Facts and figures on natural disasters. Available from www.worldbank.org/ieg/.../docs/natural_disasters_fact_sheet.pdf. Accessed 18 April 2011
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lu, J.L.D.P. (2024). Epidemics, Diseases, Health and Safety Emergencies Arising from Climate Change and Disasters in the Philippines. In: Berse, K.B., Pulhin, J.M., La Viña, A.G.M. (eds) Climate Emergency in the Philippines. Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7804-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7804-5_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-7803-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-7804-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)