Kathmandu. As an unusually strong El Ni\u00f1o event in the Pacific Ocean threatens another extreme heat wave in South Asia, four neighboring countries \u2014 India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan \u2014 will work together to address its impact. <\/p>\n
According to a press release issued by the Global Hit Forum, 4 countries, including Nepal, will strengthen regional cooperation. The aim is to identify gaps in health surveillance, funding, and local preparedness. This is because extreme heat poses a growing public health challenge in South Asia. <\/p>\n
The regional coalition, which will launch in October 2026, will work in collaboration with the Global Heat Forum. An assessment of 4 new countries has also been released highlighting the gaps in heat preparedness. These assessments warn that the impact of heat action plans and weather alerts must be felt on the ground. This protection is especially important for people working outdoors, people in vulnerable communities, or those with limited access to healthcare and cooling resources. <\/p>\n
The press release said that as the risk of heat waves increases in South Asia, these assessments indicate a shift from divided responses by individual countries to a shared regional approach. The hub will create a regional network of institutions and training programs. It will also translate these assessments into pre- and post-summer weather briefings. This will enable governments of 4 countries to translate heat science into integrated and coordinated action. This will help the region’s most vulnerable communities. <\/p>\n
District-level studies in India show that 57 per cent of districts (about three-quarters of the population) are already at risk of extreme heat. India is now moving towards proactive risk reduction rather than providing relief only after an event. India has heat action plans for more than 250 cities and districts. In addition, heat waves are now recognized as a notified natural disaster under the Disaster Risk Management Fund of India. <\/p>\n
Nepal, which was once primarily vulnerable to hydro-weather disasters such as floods and droughts, is now at increased risk of extreme heat. According to the National Meteorological Department, in 2024, there will be 50 days of temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in Nepal’s southern Terai plains. In response, Nepal has issued its first federal heat plan and implemented various levels of heat alerts. However, its health system still lacks systematic data on heat-related diseases. <\/p>\n
In Bangladesh, the ‘felt temperature’ (a combination of temperature and humidity) has increased by about 4.5 degrees Celsius since 1980. Now, about a third of the year is dangerously hot and humid. Bangladesh has included heat in its National Adaptation Plan. It has developed its first ‘City Heat Action Plan’ and issued national guidelines for heat-related diseases. <\/p>\n
In Bhutan, rising temperatures in the southern plains are also causing temperatures to rise in once-cold valleys. This is affecting people who have never had to plan for extreme heat before. Under national regulations, heat-related responsibilities are assigned to the Ministry of Health. The 2022 regulations mandate workers to take heat-protection measures. In addition, Bhutan already has robust flood and glacial-lake warning systems. These can also be expanded to provide a strong foundation for heat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kathmandu. As an unusually strong El Ni\u00f1o event in the Pacific Ocean threatens another extreme heat wave in South Asia, four neighboring countries \u2014 India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan \u2014 will work together to address its impact. According to a press release issued by the Global Hit Forum, 4 countries, including Nepal, will strengthen regional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":320905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45031,45159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-320908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banner-news-en","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320909,"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320908\/revisions\/320909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/media\/320905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}