Rising temperatures aren't just reshaping coastlines and harvests — they're showing up on people's skin. A major new study covering 136 countries has found that more than 40% of nations have reported climate-related changes in how common or severe skin diseases are, and the burden falls hardest on countries many of us love to visit.
The research comes from the Global Observatory of Access to Skin Health (SkinObservatory), led by Dr Esther Freeman with the International League of Dermatological Societies and L'Oréal Dermatological Beauty. It was presented at the 2026 Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology in Vienna.
The headline number is 42.6% of surveyed countries reporting climate-linked shifts in skin disease prevalence or severity. But the spread is striking: in low-income countries the figure hits 55.6%, and lower-middle-income countries sit at 52.5%, compared with just 28.3% in high-income economies. The researchers call this a double vulnerability — these nations face extreme heat, floods and shifting rainfall, while having thinner health systems to cope. As the authors put it, the countries contributing least to climate change are the most likely to report dermatological consequences.
So what exactly is changing? Among the 58 countries that specified effects, heat-related problems topped the list: 81% reported more heat rashes, and 75.9% saw changes in inflammatory skin conditions. Around 62% noted shifts in infectious skin diseases, and half reported changes in vector-borne diseases — the mosquito- and tick-borne kind — as warmer, wetter conditions let insects spread into regions where they were once rare. Dr Freeman's explanation is straightforward: heat and humidity drive sweating and irritation, while extreme heat and pollution can trigger or worsen inflammatory flare-ups.
Geography matters too. The Western Pacific logged the highest share of countries reporting changes at 64.7%, with the Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia both at 60%. Europe, by comparison, came in at just 16.1%.
For travellers, the practical read is simple. Long-haul trips to tropical and lower-income destinations increasingly mean managing real heat stress: packing lightweight breathable clothing, staying hydrated, taking sun and heat seriously, and being diligent about insect repellent in areas where disease-carrying mosquitoes are expanding their range. Anyone with eczema, psoriasis or other inflammatory skin conditions may find flares harder to control in hot, humid climates, so it's worth discussing a travel plan with a doctor before an extended stay. It's also a reason to build a little slack into itineraries in very hot destinations rather than cramming midday sightseeing into 38°C afternoons.
This isn't a story about avoiding these places — it's about travelling them with eyes open, especially as the study's central finding is that these effects are happening now, not in some distant forecast.
