Climate change and water-related diseases in developing countries of Western Asia: a systematic literature review

Climate change is a global challenge expected to affect water-related diseases (WRDs). The present systematic study tried to review literature examining the relationship between meteorological conditions and WRDs in developing countries located in Western Asia. We searched Scopus, PubMed and Embase for studies describing the relationship between WRDs and climate variables (ambient temperature, rainfall and humidity) plus extreme events, drought and flooding. A total of 27 articles met the inclusion criteria. The key findings presented a positive association between temperature and WRDs in most of the evaluated records. However, rainfall and humidity showed inconsistent relationships with WRDs. No evidence was found reporting the effect of climate variables on water-based or water-washed diseases. Yemen is the only country in the studied region that still has major issues controlling WRDs and might be at greater risk of climate change. It is recommended that future researches evaluate the delayed effects of environmental factors on WRDs and multidimensional interactions of climate variables on each other or on socioeconomic variables affecting WRDs. Increased health risks due to climate change add additional value to the investigations studying the proven adaptation strategies such as improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) and effective early warning systems.