Climate change is the biggest health threat facing humanity

Climate change is the biggest health threat facing humanity, threatening the progress in development, global health and poverty reduction made over the past 50 years, according to the World Health Organization. In the process, existing health inequalities between and within populations keep on widening.

The climate change crisis has been producing and is expected to produce more severe direct and indirect impacts on health.

This is apparent in the rising number of heat-related deaths caused by rising temperatures and heatwaves in addition to dust and sandstorms. Such extreme weather events have a detrimental impact on the prevalence of infectious diseases such as pneumonia and influenza, as well as non-infectious diseases such as asthma and pulmonary fibrosis.

All these effects are exacerbated by the inequities and disparities in terms of socio-economic situations, such as the living conditions of the poor, especially those in urban areas, who are more vulnerable to those impacts.

But many people still do not connect climate change and health, or climate change and many other sectors. The reason for this lack of focus and attention is the lack of inclusion of climate change, not just in our medical curriculum (at the University of Alexandria), but in all our curricula.

Including climate change could prevent future generations from ignorance of climate change and the scope of the crisis and its effects.

Africa’s voice is pivotal

COP26 (the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland) was supposed to be the largest climate change conference that should have ensured that, no matter your sector, you need to know that you are affected by climate change and are contributing to it.

COP26 should have been a major pivotal moment for countries and decision-makers to collaborate in a multisectoral and intersectoral approach to ensure that the climate change crisis is at the centre of all our policies and that our health should remain at the centre of all climate change negotiations.

During COP26, I was the head of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations delegation to the conference. We organised several side events on the different linkages between climate change and health, contributed to several discussions within the health community and other sectors and organised a ‘die-in’ as a demonstration aimed at stopping the consumption of fossil fuels.

We held discussions with many country delegations and representatives to call for the inclusion of health in the climate change negotiations and in the final text of COP26, in addition to calling for the inclusion of youth and medical students in the climate action – not just at international level, but also at national levels. We also conducted a survey on the healthy and green post-COVID-19 recovery that we are calling for.

Unfortunately, due to the extreme vaccine inequity, financial barriers and the COVID-19 situation, many African stakeholders were deprived of the opportunity to have their voices heard at COP26.

I believe many organisations wanted to ensure inclusivity in terms of their stances and calls to action, which would include representing the issues and the required actions for all regions and continents. Africa had a voice, but it was not as loud as it should have been.

So, Africa should do much to elevate its voice on the crisis. Proactiveness is the key. Africa must put itself on the path of leading climate action, following a whole-of-society approach. This can be achieved by raising awareness and empowering members of society and allowing them to contribute to climate action.

COP27, the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will gather in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from 7-18 November 2022. During COP27, Africa should show the world that the continent can contribute to addressing the climate crisis.

Action needed, not just words

There will be many more COPs, but negotiations should no longer be just words and statements. They should be on-the-ground actions and accountability tools to ensure that our countries are doing everything possible to address the climate crisis.

Science should be the backbone of every decision we make and every negotiation we undertake. In medicine, we recognise the importance of an evidence-based approach when treating our patients, but this should not be just a clinical medical approach. It should be followed in all our decisions.

Science is the tool through which we understood what is happening on our planet and how we are destroying it, and it will also be the way to save the planet and its inhabitants.

The engagement of all stakeholders, including regional and pan-African organisations, is the engagement that we all need to advance the  Paris Agreement goals.

Therefore, I believe in the effectiveness of a multi-stakeholder approach, whereby all stakeholders bring their expertise, skills, knowledge and opinions to the table to ensure that our plans and strategies are aligned with the different needs of our countries, regions and populations and the different actions required to advance the agreement’s goals.

 

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This piece has been originally published on University World News.