Today, at the World Health Organization (WHO), panelists made an impassioned plea for urgent climate action as it hosted a Strategic Roundtable on the Role of the Health Communities in Climate Action: taking stock and moving forward at the World Health Assembly.
“The most pressing reasons for urgent climate action are the impacts not in the future, but right now, on health” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, as he opened today’s Strategic Roundtable. “The climate crisis is a health crisis, fuelling outbreaks, contributing to higher rates of noncommunicable diseases, and threatening to overwhelm our health workforce and health infrastructure.”
Climate change is emerging as one of the greatest health challenges of the 21st century. It is bringing more deadly extreme weather events, increasing non-communicable diseases, and is facilitating the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. Furthermore, it is impacting our health workforce and infrastructure, simultaneously reducing the capacity to achieve Universal Health Coverage, an objective fundamental to WHO’s mandate. Further delay in action will significantly increase risks to our health, undermine decades of improvements in global health, and contravene our collective commitments to ensure the human right to health for all.
In a compelling address, Dr Maria Neira unveiled three challenges that the health community must confront. The initial and foremost challenge entails tackling the diverse array of health repercussions stemming from the climate change crisis, emphasizing the need to safeguard human well-being. The second challenge revolves around constructing resilient health systems that can effectively navigate the complexities of the 21st century, ensuring optimal healthcare provision in an ever-evolving landscape. Lastly, Dr Neira highlighted the health advantages derived from transitioning towards a low carbon society, illustrating the critical interplay between environmental sustainability and human well-being. These three grand challenges call on the health community to mobilize and engage in transformative action to safeguard public health and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.
