Extreme heat increasingly endangers children in West and Central Africa, UNICEF says

Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — UNICEF says children in West and Central Africa are increasingly exposed to extreme heat, creating health concerns. The U.N. children’s agency in a new report published on Wednesday says that the frequency of heat waves in the region has more than quadrupled since the 1960s, leaving children more vulnerable to developing chronic conditions and contracting infectious diseases that spread in high temperatures, such as mosquito-borne malaria and dengue. The report comes as West Africa experienced an unprecedented heat wave earlier this year that led to a surge in deaths in the region.