BERLIN(National Times)- At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during June\u2019s heatwave, national statistics indicated, a toll that could yet rise as more data is released, according to an AFP analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this period, all-time temperature records were broken in several European countries, as well as for the month of June in the UK and in Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And while the mortality statistics remain provisional, they are an early indication of the human cost of these record-breaking heatwaves, which are becoming increasingly common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFP analysed data on excess deaths between June 22 and 28 from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this period, the height of the heatwave in several countries, around 10,000 excess deaths were recorded in these countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another 2,200 deaths were linked to the heatwave in England and Wales between June 18 and 28, according to estimates released by Britain\u2019s Met Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Provisional data from the European Mortality Monitoring (EuroMOMO) also recorded a significant rise in excess deaths in the final week of June: it put the figure at 14,260. Their figures for that week drew on official statistics from 24 countries, accounting for some 400 million residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EuroMOMO\u2019s figures do not include parts of eastern Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe summer is not yet over,\u201d Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, warned in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is not a natural disaster and it\u2019s repeating itself every year because too many governments are still treating heat as a weather event rather than a health emergency,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe tools to prevent most of these deaths exist. \u201cThe guidance is published. The evidence is there,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat governments do next is a choice, and this summer shows what\u2019s at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Dramatic\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These figures indicate that this week had the highest rate of excess deaths among all June weeks since EuroMOMO began pulling these European figures together in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only other summer week in which a higher rate of excess deaths has been recorded over that seven-year period was a week in July 2022 when Covid was still active in many European countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s no other reasons for excess mortality that we know of than heat — and it\u2019s quite dramatic,\u201d said Lasse Vestergaard, an epidemiologist at Denmark\u2019s Statens Serum Institut and coordinator of EuroMOMO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he urged caution in interpreting the most recent figures — according to EuroMOMO, it takes four weeks for estimates to become sufficiently consolidated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The initial figures released by national bodies have often been revised upwards since the end of the June heatwave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thousands dead in Germany<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Different countries have different ways of compiling the relevant figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spain\u2019s excess mortality monitor MoMo attributed 610 deaths to the heat between June 22 and 28 — nearly two thirds of whom were more than 85 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But over the same period, Germany recorded 5,780 excess deaths – compared to the average of the four previous years, said Germany\u2019s federal office of statistics, Destatis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compared to the two previous weeks, Destatis had recorded 7,100 excess deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BERLIN(National Times)- At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during June\u2019s heatwave, national statistics indicated, a toll that could yet rise as more data is released, according to an AFP analysis. During this period, all-time temperature records were broken in several European countries, as well as for the month of June […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n