The Ministry of Health has suggested health tips in an announcement for preventing unwanted health issues from the dangers of the heat in the hotter summer.

When the weather becomes hotter, the body tends to lose hydration, which is why the MOH has suggested heat safety tips on 3 April – stay in the shade, wear an umbrella or headwear and loose cotton clothes with light colours covering arms, neck and shoulders for going outside when it is necessary, and drink more water.

Direct exposure to the sunlight, taking a bath immediately after returning from outside, entering or leaving an air-conditioned room or car immediately after being exposed to direct sunlight and consuming alcohol can increase the risk of suffering the dangers of heat, it said.

Symptoms of the heat exhaustion include dizziness, headache, muscle cramps, lethargy, excessive thirst, agitation, a dangerous rise in body temperature, seizures and unconsciousness, so the vulnerable group such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and mental illness, manual workers, athletes, obese people, alcoholics and narcotic drug users are at high of heat-related illness, it said.

If people suffer heat exhaustion symptoms, drink more water and take rest in the shade and a cool area. Patients who lose consciousness due to heat stress should be sent as quickly as possible to the nearest health facility after receiving first aid.

In March, two people died of heat stroke on the streets of Yangon: a taxi driver and a monk. — MT/ZS