Unique Medical Health Needs and Contributing Environmental Factors in Florida

• Although climate change is occuring globally, Floridians are being uniquely impacted due to increasingly deadly heatwaves in an area of the world that is already known for being hot for most of the year. "Heat worsens asthma, heart and lung disorders and even mental illnesses. A changing climate helps spread mosquito-borne diseases (think Zika), and research shows it makes hurricanes stronger and more common."
•   Ongoing environmental factors like temperature, humidity, precipitation, air quality, and the number of severe storms in Florida have a unique direct and indirect impact on the medical health needs of Floridians. These medical health needs may include Floridians who have or are susceptible to: allergies, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, foodborne illness, heat-related illness and death, injury, mental health disorders, stress-related disorders, stroke, vector-borne disease, and zoonotic disease.
• "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis remain among the leading causes of morbidity and death in Florida." Environmental factors that are directly impacting these medical health needs of Floridians are: not enough public health education, not identifying these diseases earlier, and not receiving more timely treatment.