PUNE: The climate crisis is a health crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a list of urgent global health challenges for this decade with climate change and interlinked diseases on the priority.
As per WHO, air pollution kills an estimated seven million people every year. Climate change causes more extreme weather events, exacerbates malnutrition and fuels the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria. The same emissions that cause global warming are responsible for more than one-quarter of deaths from heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General in an official statement said all challenges in this list demand a response from more than just the health sector.
“We face shared threats and we have a shared responsibility to act. With the deadline for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals quickly approaching, the United Nations General Assembly has underscored that the next 10 years must be the ‘Decade of Action’. This means advocating for national funding to address gaps in health systems and health infrastructure, as well as providing support to the most vulnerable countries. Investing now will save lives – and money – later. The cost of doing nothing is one we cannot afford. Governments, communities, and international agencies must work together to achieve these critical goals. There are no shortcuts to a healthier world. 2030 is fast approaching, and we must hold our leaders accountable for their commitments,” said Ghebreyesus.
With climate change and health being one of the important challenges ahead, in 2019, over 80 cities in more than 50 countries committed to WHO’s air quality guidelines, agreeing to align their air pollution and climate policies.
This year, WHO will work towards developing a set of policy options for governments to prevent or reduce the health risks of air pollution.
Along with climate change, WHO is also focusing on delivering better healthcare in conflict zones, keeping in check the spread of infectious diseases, preparing for epidemics, threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and universal health coverage. Also, as per WHO, about one-third of the world’s people lack access to medicines, vaccines, diagnostic tools and other essential health products. Low access to quality health products threatens lives, which can both endanger patients and fuel drug resistance.
