Health Risks to Riverine Women in the Amazon Under Compound Dry Hazards

Hydroclimatic records show an increase in both the duration and intensity of droughts in the Amazon River Basin (ARB) with remarkable events occurring in the past 20 years in the region (e.g., in 2005, 2010, 2015-2016, and 2023-2024). Climate projections indicate overall drier conditions for most of the ARB in the next decades, together with a higher frequency of extremes such as droughts and floods. The co-occurrence of extreme droughts with heatwaves and forest fires have been referred to as compound dry hazards. They pose significant health risks to people in the Amazon. Hydrological droughts, for instance, change river flows in the ARB, directly affecting the most important means of transportation for rural riverine communities: river navigation. Riverine communities, an officially recognised traditional people of Brazil (Federal Decree 8750/2016), depend on navigation to access urban centres, health care facilities, schools, and fishing and hunting sites. Food and fuel supply also depend entirely on navigation in many remote parts of the ARB where roads are scarce. Extended and intense dry periods can lead to the total isolation of entire communities for several months, with food and medicine supply shortages, and reduced access to healthcare facilities. When droughts co-occur with forest fires and heatwaves, there is an increase in healthcare demand due to respiratory diseases, waterborne diseases, and other health issues, while access is disrupted by very low water levels in rivers. Compound dry hazards may pose health impacts that can be felt differently according to gender, with increasing evidence suggesting that women suffer more intensively because of social norms regarding gender roles as well as due to physiological factors related to reproductive health. Gender differentiated impacts of climate change may affect several dimensions of well-being and daily activities in the rural context: distribution of labour, mobility and migration, access to means for hygiene and health care, and exposure to climate-sensitive diseases. This presentation examines the pathways through which compound dry hazards disproportionately affect riverine women in the Amazon, compared to men, due to social norms, geographical conditions, and gender-specific physiological needs.