WHO issues heat-safety guidance for mass gatherings
The World Health Organisation has released guidance for governments and event organisers on preventing and treating heat-related illness at major sporting, religious and cultural gatherings. The recommendations include safe water, cooling infrastructure, schedule changes, crowd-flow management, health surveillance and organised medical services, based on evidence from events worldwide.
The World Health Organisation has issued new guidance to help governments and event organisers prevent and manage heat-related illness at major sporting, religious and cultural gatherings. The guidance follows a WHO evidence review covering studies published between 1980 and 2025. The review documented nearly 500,000 medical encounters at mass gatherings, including more than 22,000 cases of heat-related illness.
The organisation said more than 90% of patients could be treated at event venues when on-site medical systems were properly organised. Such arrangements, it said, could reduce pressure on local hospitals and ambulance services. Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said extreme heat was becoming a greater threat to health, safety and the operational continuity of mass gatherings.
He said heat should be treated not only as an environmental hazard but also as an operational and governance issue requiring risk assessment and preparation. Ihekweazu said heat-related deaths had increased by an estimated 63% since the 1990s, with an average of 546,000 deaths annually between 2012 and 2021. He added that mass gatherings could increase risks through prolonged outdoor exposure, dense crowds, limited access to safe water, travel-related stress and unfamiliar climatic conditions.
The WHO recommendations include accessible drinking water and toilets, cooling infrastructure, changes to event schedules and effective crowd-flow management. They also call for workforce protection, public communication, real-time health surveillance and prepared on-site medical services. The guidance adopts a whole-of-event approach, covering venue design, transport, security, communications, water and sanitation.
It is intended to complement national heat-health plans, occupational safety rules, emergency preparations and clinical guidance. Ihekweazu urged governments, organisers and partners to incorporate heat-risk management into event planning and operations.
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