The Heat We Ignore: Rising Temperatures and the Student Health Crisis in Northern Ghana

In Tamale, heat is often treated as normal. We joke about it. We adapt to it. We tell ourselves that "this is the North." For many of us, the scorching sun, sleepless nights and excessive sweating have become part of everyday life. But perhaps we have become too accustomed to a dangerous reality. What we have normalized may, in fact, be a growing public health crisis.

Climate discussions in Ghana frequently focus on floods, droughts and erratic rainfall. While these issues deserve attention, one of the most overlooked consequences of climate change in Northern Ghana is extreme heat. Rising temperatures are increasingly affecting livelihoods, productivity, health and overall wellbeing. Yet, because heat has always been associated with Northern Ghana, its worsening intensity often escapes critical attention.

This silence must change.
Tamale, one of Ghana's hottest cities, is experiencing increasingly intense and prolonged periods of heat. The effects are felt by everyone: farmers working under the scorching sun, laborers on construction sites, market women spending long hours in open markets and public servants carrying out their daily duties. However, among the most affected and often least discussed are students.

For students in Northern Ghana, particularly those studying in tertiary institutions such as the University for Development Studies (UDS), extreme heat is not merely an inconvenience. It is increasingly becoming a student welfare and public health concern.

UDS is proudly known as Ghana's pro-poor university. This identity reflects the institution's commitment to providing quality higher education to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Consequently, many students rely heavily on walking as their primary means of transportation between lecture halls, hostels and other facilities. What may appear normal in some universities cannot always be assumed to be normal at UDS.

Every day, hundreds of students walk considerable distances under the intense Tamale sun in order to attend lectures, access laboratories, visit libraries and participate in academic activities. During peak afternoon hours, prolonged exposure to extreme heat can lead to heat exhaustion, severe dehydration and, in some instances, heat stroke. It is not uncommon to witness students feeling dizzy, weak or physically drained after spending extended periods under the sun.

Extreme heat also affects teaching and learning. Even in institutions with adequately designed and well-ventilated lecture halls, rising temperatures can significantly affect comfort, concentration and overall learning outcomes. It is difficult to fully engage in academic activities when one's body is struggling to cope with intense heat. Fatigue, headaches, reduced concentration and irritability can undermine the quality of learning and academic performance.

The burden does not end there.
Extreme heat significantly increases water consumption. Ironically, at a time when the body requires more water to remain healthy, access to affordable water is becoming increasingly difficult for many students and residents in Northern Ghana. Prolonged dry conditions often harden the ground, making the drilling of boreholes difficult and expensive. In the UDS community at Dungu, a single container of water for bathing may cost between GHC 3 and GHC 5. For many students, this price is unaffordable, leaving them unable to afford enough water to bathe regularly, which can lead to poor hygiene, skin infections and other health issues.

Similarly, the price of sachet water has increased considerably in recent years. A bag of sachet water, which many students depend on daily, now costs approximately GHC 11 in some communities. For students already managing limited financial resources, especially in a pro-poor institution such as UDS, these rising costs impose an additional burden on their welfare.

Another rarely discussed consequence of extreme heat relates to student safety and security.

In many student communities including UDS, the unbearable nighttime heat compels students to remain outdoors late into the night or even sleep outside in search of fresh air. Unfortunately, this coping strategy can expose students to theft, sexual violence, rape and other forms of insecurity. In this regard, extreme heat transcends environmental and health concerns; it also becomes a security issue.

From a public health perspective, the consequences of prolonged exposure to extreme heat are profound.

Direct heat-related illnesses such as dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are becoming increasingly common. Dehydration may begin quietly: a student feels unusually thirsty, gets a dry mouth, dark urine, dizziness or a pounding headache after walking long distances under the sun. Heat exhaustion can make a student weak, nauseous, sweaty, shaky and unable to sit through lectures or practicals. In severe cases, heat stroke can cause confusion, collapse, very high body temperature and even loss of consciousness. For a student in a pro-poor environment, this is not just a health scare. It can mean paying for transport to a clinic, consultation fees, laboratory tests, medicines and, in serious cases, admission costs that many families are not prepared for. A missed day of class can quickly become several days of absence, lost practical work and extra academic stress.

Extreme heat also contributes indirectly to the burden of infectious diseases. In Northern Ghana, diarrheal diseases and typhoid fever remain significant public health challenges. These illnesses often begin with stomach pain, frequent loose stools, vomiting, fever, weakness and loss of appetite. A student suffering from them may struggle to attend lectures, stand in the field, work in the ward or even concentrate long enough to read. In a setting where money is already tight, treatment can involve repeated trips to the pharmacy, buying oral rehydration salts, antibiotics or pain relief and sometimes paying for tests to confirm the illness. Poor water storage, limited access to clean water and the need to reuse water carefully during hot periods can make recovery even harder. Skin infections, heat rashes, sleepless nights and mental stress are also common. A student may wake up tired, scratch irritated skin all day or sit in class exhausted because the night was too hot to sleep well. These are not small inconveniences; they affect health, learning and the little money students have for food, transport and care.

Yet, despite these realities, extreme heat remains largely absent from many public health and policy discussions.

Climate change is not only an environmental issue. It is a health issue. It is an educational issue. It is a student welfare issue. It is a development issue.

Addressing this challenge requires collective action.

Government agencies, local authorities, educational institutions, development partners and student leaders must continue to strengthen climate resilience measures across Northern Ghana. This includes expanding tree-growing initiatives, increasing access to potable water, promoting heat-health education, investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and intensifying climate awareness campaigns.

Universities and student bodies should also continue to champion conversations around climate change and public health. Young people must not merely participate in climate programmes; they must lead them. Through advocacy, research, innovation and public education, students can play a pivotal role in shaping climate solutions for Northern Ghana.

As a young leader from Northern Ghana, I believe we can no longer afford to treat extreme heat as simply "part of life in the North." The intensity of the heat is changing, and so too must our response.

The heat we ignore today may become the crisis we cannot ignore tomorrow.

It is time we recognized extreme heat for what it truly is: a growing public health concern that demands urgent attention, collective action and sustained advocacy.

The time to act is now.

References/Further Reading

1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2023). Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Geneva: IPCC. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
2. World Health Organization (WHO). (2024). Climate Change and Health. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
3. World Health Organization (WHO). (2024). Heat and Health. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health
4. Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet). Climate information and weather reports. Available at: https://meteo.gov.gh/
5. Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Ghana. National Climate Change Policy. Available at: https://epa.gov.gh/
6. Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI). (2013). National Climate Change Policy of Ghana. Accra: Government of Ghana.
7. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (2021). The Climate Crisis Is a Child Rights Crisis. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/reports/climate-crisis-child-rights-crisis
8. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Climate Change in Ghana. Available at: https://www.undp.org/ghana
9. World Bank Group. (2022). Climate Risk Country Profile: Ghana. Available at: https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/ghana
10. Ghana Health Service. Public Health Information and Disease Prevention Resources. Available at: https://ghs.gov.gh/

Author Bio:
Zampiaw Isaac is a Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science student at the University for Development Studies, UDS Local NUGS President and Vice Chairman of the Climate Change Committee under the 59^th National NUGS. His interests include youth leadership, student welfare, climate action, governance and sustainable development.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +233 54 316 5085