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The heat wave that scorched Europe this summer may be to
blame in the deaths of more than 4,000 elderly Italians, the Health
Ministry said Thursday, offering its first official figures related to the
searing temperatures. The ministry said 34,071 people over the age of 65 died
during the period of July 16 to Aug. 15, the height of the heat wave.
That's 4,175 more than the same time last year. Officials from the ministry's Superior Health Institute,
which compiled the figures, said more study was needed to determine if the
deaths could be blamed entirely on the heat. But they stressed that the
weather clearly played a role. "There is a relationship between heat peaks and
mortality," said Dr. Donato Greco, an official with the institute. The heat may have directly caused some deaths or worsened
existing illnesses and conditions, officials said. Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia said the number of elderly
deaths was as high as expected considering the number who died in other
European countries. France topped the list, with the government saying an
estimated 11,435 people died because of the heat. The country's leading
undertaker put the number at 15,000 on Tuesday. The Italian Health Ministry had initially refused to release
data on deaths during the heat wave, saying it was impossible to determine
if weather was the cause. But it changed course after a public outcry
erupted after France released its startling figures. In Italy, which has a population of 57 million, temperatures
started rising in June and soared well into the 100s, with high humidity
in July and August in many parts of the country. The ministry launched an investigation late last month,
following media reports that the death rate rose dramatically during the
first half of August, particularly among the elderly, the ill and people
living alone. Calls placed by The Associated Press to several Italian
municipalities in the second half of August showed a significant increase
in the numbers of deaths compared with the same time last year, although
officials said the causes weren't certain. In France, the death toll sparked a political uproar over who
was to blame, with calls for the health minister to resign. The
center-right government issued a report this week blaming the deaths on
hospital understaffing during summer holidays, widespread failure among
agencies and health services to coordinate efforts, and chronically
insufficient care for the elderly. In Paris on Thursday, France's embattled health minister,
Jean-Francois Mattei, defended his response to the heat wave, and said he
agreed with the report's finding that a special health alert system should
be established to prevent another disaster. No other European country came close to France's death toll. Spain has reported 100 heat-related deaths, while Portugal,
which has seen the harshest and longest heat wave in living memory,
scrapped its initial estimate of 1,300 deaths and lowered it to just four.
In Amsterdam, Dutch authorities estimated 1,000 to 1,400
victims. In Britain, there were 907 more deaths registered during the
week ending Aug. 15 compared to the average from the same period over the
previous five years, officials said. The Department of Health said it was
"fair to assume" that some deaths resulted from high
temperatures, but stressed there was no way of knowing if heat caused the
spike. German authorities, who tallied each case rather than
estimate them, have reported about 40 heat-related deaths this summer, but
several cities recorded significantly more deaths than usual. In Belgium — where the Royal Meteorological Society
reported the hottest summer since it began recording temperatures in 1833
— the Health Ministry is working on an overall survey, expected to be
ready by the end of the month. But initial reports from hospitals indicate
150 more deaths between July 1 and Aug. 15 than the same period last year,
the ministry said. In Serbia-Montenegro, three people were believed to have died
from the heat wave in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica.
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© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
