Heatwaves are intensifying but gaps in the data mean that the number of people who have died from rising temperatures is unclear. Disha Shetty reports on why—and why it matters Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur is hot and humid throughout the year but this April temperatures rose to over 37°C compared with the usual low 30s. The tropical country’s meteorology department published a heatwave warning for 14 areas.1 In India millions of people headed to polling stations during April and May,2 even as temperatures soared up to 44°C in some areas, with heatwaves predicted for many districts.3 Heatwaves, known as silent killers, resulted in 61 000 deaths in Europe in 2022, according to one study.4 In West Africa, Mali has already reported more than 100 heatwave deaths this year.5 Most healthcare systems are not equipped to document heatwave deaths, however. “The largest single source of mortality data should be the civil registration system. But in low and middle income countries, the vast majority of deaths are happening outside of health facilities,” says Philip Setel, a vice president at Vital Strategies, a public …

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缺乏高质量的统计数据掩盖了真正的热浪死亡人数

热浪正在加剧，但数据差距意味着因气温上升而死亡的人数尚不清楚。迪莎·谢蒂 (Disha Shetty) 报道了马来西亚首都吉隆坡全年炎热潮湿的原因及其重要性，但今年 4 月气温却升至 37°C 以上，而平常的气温只有 30 多度。这个热带国家的气象部门向 14 个地区发布了热浪警报。1 在印度，4 月和 5 月期间，数百万人前往投票站，2 尽管某些地区气温飙升至 44°C，许多地区预计将出现热浪。3一项研究显示，被称为无声杀手的热浪在 2022 年导致欧洲 61,000 人死亡。4 在西非，马里今年已报告了 100 多人因热浪死亡。5 大多数医疗保健系统没有能力记录热浪死亡事件， 然而。 “死亡数据的最大单一来源应该是民事登记系统。但在低收入和中等收入国家，绝大多数死亡发生在医疗机构之外，”公共战略组织 Vital Strategies 的副总裁 Philip Setel 说。