The nations of the world are ill-prepared to protect their populations against the health effects of climate change, according to the World Health Organisation.
The report uses figures from 101 countries reported in the ‘2018 WHO Health and Climate Change Survey Report’.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, and colleagues state that safeguarding human health from climate change impacts is more urgent than ever, yet most countries are not able to act fully on their own plans to achieve this.
Published yesterday (3 December), the report shows that while countries are increasingly making plans to prioritise climate change and health, only about 38% have the necessary finances in place.
“Climate change is not only racking up a bill for future generations to pay, it’s a price that people are paying for now with their health,” says Dr Ghebreyesus. “It is a moral imperative that countries have the resources they need to act against climate change and safeguard health now and in the future.”
Top climate-related health risks are: heat stress, injury or death from extreme weather events, food, water and vector-borne diseases (such as cholera, dengue or malaria).
International funds do exist to help countries protect their population from climate health risks. But countries have difficulties in accessing this finance – more than 75% reported a lack of information, and over half report a lack of capacity to prepare proposals.
Dr Maria Neira, of the World Health Organisation, comments: “All levels of government need to prioritise building health system resilience to climate change, and a growing number of national governments are clearly headed in that direction.”
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-12-2019-climate-risks-to-health
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