Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

Chapter 10: Human health and environment139Figure 10.1: Selected food- and waterborne and zoonotic infectious diseases: Incidence rates (cases per100,000 population) of brucellosis, shigellosis and typhoid fever, 2000-201040.0035.0030.00Cases per 100,000 population25.0020.0015.0010.005.000.002000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Brucellosis Albania Brucellosis CEEC average Brucellosis EU averageShigellosis Albania Shigellosis CEEC average Shigellosis EU averageTyphoid fever Albania Typhoid fever CEEC average Typhoid fever EU averageSource: WHO Regional Office for Europe. Centralised Information System for Infectious Diseases (CISID), 2011.Note: Dashed lines denote missing data points.Climate changeThe rise of the average temperature in Albania in thepast 30 years is an alert about the threat of climatechange. Projected climate changes in Albania includehigher air temperature, increased frequency ofextreme weather events, and a 20 per cent decrease inwater runoff with a reduction of up to 60 per cent ofpower generation.Albania is prone to a range of extreme weatherevents such as floods and associated landslides,storms, heat waves and cold snaps. The typical riskacross Albania is that of small-scale disasters relatingto floods of pluvial origin, landslides and the effectsof high snows, and recent years have shown anincrease in the number of flood-related emergencies.The western plain has the highest flood risk of under100 years’ return. The vulnerability of the Albanianpopulation to both large- and small-scale disasters iscompounded by poverty, poor infrastructure andcommunications, a building boom, and a range ofenvironmental factors from rapid deforestation andpoor watershed management to environmentalpollution. During recent heat waves, an increase inheat-related health conditions was noted.Climate change will further aggravate air-qualityrelatedhealth problems in the major cities ofAlbania, but in particular in Tirana, contributing tothe worsening of respiratory consequences amonggroups of residents clearly exposed to such risks.Climate change and variation affects vector biology,altering vector seasonality, abundance anddistributions. It has favoured the growth of tropicalplants, even in Albania, and made it possible formosquitoes to appear at altitudes above 400-500 mabove sea level. Albania has thus become subject topotential outbreaks of diseases such as chikungunya,dengue, malaria and other diseases of tropical origin.There is no system in place to monitor and assess thehealth effects of climate change.Since 2004, Albania has had a National CivilEmergency Plan, aimed at both prevention andrecovery. A national inter-ministerial committeeunder the Council of Ministers is the relevant policybody, and MoI’s General Directorate of CivilEmergency is the operational arm, providingtechnical expertise. The health system tasks are towork with and alongside the national disaster team,and to provide the health and medical servicesneeded during and following a disaster such as a