An Australian professor has predicted that climate change will worsen diseases particularly in low-income countries. So health care strategies to deal with the problem should be developed, the professor says.

In his article published in the British Medical Journal on Jan. 19, Tony McMichael, director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health of the Australian National University in Canberra made those points. He said contamination of air, water, soil and food due to heat waves, floods and wildfires would alter the incidence, range and seasonality of diseases.

In a statement published by Newswise, McMichael said, "So, for example, by 2080 between 20 and 70 million more people could be living in malarial regions due to climate change."

The professor added "environmental degradation exacerbates malnutrition, disease and injury" and "infectious diseases cannot be stabilized in circumstances of climatic instability."

"More bold and far-sighted policy decisions need to be taken at national and international level" to address the issue, he said.