An estimated 55 million people globally are affected by droughts every year, and they are the most serious hazard to livestock and crops in nearly every part of the world. Drought threatens people’s livelihoods, increases the risk of disease and death, and fuels mass migration...

Water scarcity impacts 40% of the world’s population, and as many as 700 million people are at-risk of being displaced as a result of drought by 2030.

Rising temperatures caused by climate change are making already dry regions drier and wet regions wetter.

 In dry regions, this means that when temperatures rise, water evaporates more quickly, and thus increases the risk of drought or prolongs periods of drought.

Between 80-90% of all documented disasters from natural hazards during the past 10 years have resulted from floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, heat waves and severe storms.

Humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing drought and accelerating mitigation must be done “urgently, using every tool we can,” says a new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

771 million people still lacking even a basic drinking water service - water from an improved source (like a well or protected spring) that they can access within 30 minutes round-trip.

367 million use unimproved sources - water from an unprotected well or spring.

Eight out of nine countries that still have less than 50% coverage of at least basic drinking water services are in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Globally, women and girls spend 200 million hours per day collecting water. This 200 million hours represents 8.3 million days, or over 22,800 years. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-collecting-water-often-colossal-waste-time-women-and-girls

    In Africa, 47% of schools have basic drinking water, 54% have basic sanitation and 38% have basic hygiene services. (Progress On Drinking Water, Sanitation And Hygiene In Africa 2000-2020 5 Years Into The SDGs)

1 million deaths each year are associated with unclean births. Adequate sanitation and hygiene in healthcare facilities (running water, soap, sterile equipment, onsite toilet facilities, adequate sharps disposal) could prevent 26% of neonatal deaths and 11% of maternal mortality. (WHO/UNICEF 2019).

Since 2000, 2.7 billion people have gained access to use of improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households but some 1.7 billion globally people still lack access.

In 2011, 332 disasters from natural hazards were recorded
in 101 countries, causing more than 30 770 deaths, and
affecting over 244 million people. Recorded damages
amounted to more than US$ 366.1 billion.

But statistics cannot reflect the full health impact or the depths of human suffering felt during such emergencies. Millions of people have suffered injuries, disease and long-term disabilities as well as emotional anguish from the loss of loved ones and the memories of traumatic events.

Over the past 30 years the proportion of the world’s population living in flood-prone river basins has increased by 114 per cent and those living on cyclone-exposed coastlines by 192 per cent.

Reports of extreme weather events and disasters have more than tripled since the 1960s and scientists expect such events to become more frequent and severe in the future due to climate change in many parts of the world. There is also growing evidence that links escalations in violence and conflict over access to food and water resources to climate.

Climate services support health and other sectors to save lives and reduce illness and injury in emergencies by:

• assisting health emergency response operations, for example, by providing early warnings of extreme hot and cold temperatures;

providing seasonal forecasting and early warning systems to enable planning and action;

determining which populations and health care facilities are at risk of hydrometeorological hazards using risk assessment tools;

applying climate change models to forecast the longterm effects of climate change, information which could be used, for example, to decide where to locate new health facilities away from high risk areas; 

providing real-time meteorological and hydrological data, properly integrated with related health services data and information, to support local and national decision-making.

When drought causes water and food shortages, there can be many impacts on the health of the affected population which may increase morbidity and result in deaths. In recent years, most drought-related mortality has occurred in countries also experiencing political and civil conflicts.