A farmer searches for a watering point in the plains of Marsabit County, Kenya. A new WHO analysis recorded 39 disease outbreaks, flooding and other acute public health events in the seven Greater Horn of Africa countries during the first 10 months of this year. ©WHO/Billy Miaron
WHO is responding to a growing number of humanitarian crises associated with climate change – from Pakistan’s floods to the Greater Horn of Africa’s drought – while helping countries worldwide strengthen their health systems for the challenges to come.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on 2 November. “Climate change is already impacting health in many ways, through more frequent and extreme weather events, more disease outbreaks, and more mental health issues.”
WHO is working through its more than 140 country offices to integrate climate action into its programmes – from air quality and energy to disaster preparedness and nutrition. Through the new Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH), WHO has united 60-plus countries to undertake practical climate and health action on the ground.
During COP27, the United Nations annual climate meeting (6-18 November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt), WHO and partners will ensure that health and equity stay at the center of negotiations.
This week we highlight stories on climate change and health from Haiti, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, the Marshall Islands, Syria, Uganda, and more.
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Health and COP27
WHO and the World Meteorological Organization launch climahealth.info, the first global knowledge platform dedicated to climate and health.
WHO helps countries battling the resurgence of an “old-time killer”
So far this year, 29 countries have reported outbreaks of cholera, 13 of which did not have outbreaks last year. Lebanon (above) is battling the first cholera outbreak in nearly three decades. ©WHO
WHO is helping countries handle this year’s upsurge in outbreaks of cholera, a disease linked to floods, droughts, conflict, population movements and other factors that limit access to clean water.
“Cholera is an old-time killer, but it is also one we can put an end to,” WHO’s Dr Tedros said. “We know how to stop cholera before it starts: with safe water, and well-maintained sanitation and hygiene.”
WHO is providing cholera kits, vaccines, laboratory equipment, expert personnel, rapid diagnostic tests, water purification and rehydration supplies and other tools needed to stop the life-threatening bacterial infection.
In October, the governments of Italy and Norway …….