The last few weeks have witnessed massive, devastating and traumatic weather events in countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Somalia. Thousands of people have been killed or injured and millions are affected on their livelihoods. At the same time health services and facilities are seriously damaged or even completely destroyed.
In response just now, immediate humanitarian actions are being mobilized struggling to save lives – at the same time when coincidentally government officials and NGOs from all over the world are gathering in Warsaw, Poland at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP19 discussing the challenges of global climate change and possibly associated extreme weather events and the urgent actions needed for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
One of the important actors on the humanitarian side in relation to disasters is the World Health Organization (WHO) who has important roles in relation to supporting local government in e.g. injury and medicine supply management and disease prevention.
WHO has, however, also a crucial role in connection with the overall need to safeguarding human health related to climate change. On that background WHO has today issued five important health messages for the climate delegations at the COP19 in Warsaw.
- Message 1: “Human lives are the ‘bottom line’ that needs protection from climate risks” – emphasizing that human lives are irreplaceable as opposed to infrastructure and economies being recoverable.
- Message 2: “Continuing climate change is an unacceptable risk to global health” – highlighting that climate change has a potential to undermine important environmental determinants of health such as air, water and food supplies; with unpredictable but potentially severe health consequences.
- Message 3: “The world has made great progress in health, and is now organising to meet the climate challenge”. This message stresses that the health community has been among the first to liaise with the environmental sector and defining political agreements on providing sectoral guidance for the UNFCCC national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs). Focus here is on the particular need for addressing the strengthening of specific health sector functions in response to climate (and extreme weather) hazards and risks.
- Message 4. “Health ‘co-benefits’ can provide motivation for mitigation”. The issue here is that a shift away from using fossil fuels through climate change mitigation actions may have positive spin-offs for human health – for example through reduction of air pollution related health concerns killing more than 6 million people annually.
- Message 5. “The health sector needs to work with others”. True disease prevention is an intersectoral responsibility because most important decisions that affect health occur in non-health sectors.
These key messages need strong and urgent attention. It is my hope that the COP19 climate delegates whether at high governmental or grass root levels will listen, take up and translate them into concrete action – we need action now – not just listening and doing nothing. This may ultimately benefit vulnerable communities globally and locally.
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