This Thursday (13), Health Day takes place at COP30, in Belém, Pará. The program will focus on health and climate and includes the presentation of the Health Action Plan in Belém, an initiative recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the main strategies to strengthen health systems resilient to climate change.
One of the consequences of this in people’s lives is the growth of respiratory diseases resulting from fires, dry air and atmospheric pollution. One about the Amazon showed that the fires increased the percentage of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases and that, in areas most affected by fire, the number of children hospitalized doubled.
In another analysis, researchers from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) estimated that exposure to smoke from fires can increase a Brazilian’s chance of developing fire by up to 23%. The results also associated this scenario with an increase in hospitalizations for circulatory causes.
According to Paulo Saldiva, pathologist and professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), poor air quality can result in a series of health problems, “ranging from mild discomfort and also some hospitalizations and possibly increased mortality.” In , the expert also highlighted that the situation is particularly critical in the North and Central-West regions, where fires persist.
Even with the government recording, in August 2025, the lowest number of fires in the historical series, the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) showed that the outbreaks continued to be concentrated in the Cerrado and the seasonality remains, with the fire appearing at the height of the drought.
“The health system feels when the weather worsens. In Brazil, we have an increase in cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in autumn and winter, worsened by a worsening of air quality. When these two curves rise together, the patient suffers and the health service is put under pressure”, says Hélio Magarinos Torres Filho, clinical pathologist and director of Richet Medicina e Diagnóstico.
According to the expert, dry and cold air can, in itself, irritate the airways. When added to the smoke from fires, rich in fine particles that can reach the bronchi and lungs, the defense capacity drops and any circulating virus finds ground to cause longer and more serious conditions.
“That’s why winter and early spring are periods when we see more children wheezing, more elderly people with worsening respiratory function and more tests being ordered by doctors”, he explains.
The doctor also points out that children and the elderly are the group most affected by the consequences of climate change on health, which was also found in surveys on fires in the Amazon. In 2019, for example, it was estimated that more than two thousand hospitalizations were attributable to smoke from deforestation, with around 70% in babies and people over 60 years of age.
For Magarinos, taking this data to COP30 is essential. “The conference is the right place to say that deforestation and climate are not just environmental issues. They are already increasing spending on hospitalizations and exams in Brazil”, he reinforces.
How to protect yourself?
To protect yourself from dry air, air pollution and smoke from bushfires, simple measures can be useful, starting with the domestic environment: closing windows at times when there is intense smoke and ventilating the house only at times with lower concentrations of pollutants, such as early in the morning or at night.
Keeping the environment clean and humid is also a recommended measure both to avoid dryness and to reduce the accumulation of soot. Another recommendation is to moderate the use of air conditioning, as these devices dry out the air even more.
Hydration is essential, especially during physical activity. The recommendation is at least 35 ml of water per kilogram of body weight per day to ensure good hydration.
*With information from Bruno Pereira, from Agência Einstein
