WHO wants to put health at the center of the World Climate Conference
Published: Monday, Nov 27th 2023, 14:40
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The World Health Organization (WHO) wants to put the health of the world's population at the heart of the COP28 world climate conference in Dubai from Thursday. "Negotiators urgently need to understand that climate change is a direct threat to global health and can no longer be ignored or downplayed," the WHO announced in Geneva on Monday.
She called on the more than 190 countries at the conference to do everything in their power to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
According to the WHO, heat-related deaths in people over the age of 65 have risen by 70 percent over the past 20 years. It referred to reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that almost half of the world's population - around 3.5 billion people - live in regions that are likely to be severely affected by climate change.
Extreme weather puts a strain on the healthcare system
Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and heatwaves put an enormous strain on health systems. The WHO pointed out that disasters with hundreds of thousands of displaced people increase the risk of disease outbreaks: drinking water sources are often destroyed or impaired. Hygiene becomes difficult. Vaccination programs are interrupted. At the same time, disease vectors such as certain mosquitoes spread to larger regions as the heat increases. Hospitals and clinics can also be affected by flooding or other weather-related disasters.
According to the WHO, the health sector in many particularly affected countries needs more money in order to be better prepared for future challenges. This includes equipping them with solar panels to supply electricity, for example. According to the WHO, more health ministers will be attending a world climate conference than ever before. For the first time, health will be a key topic at the conference.
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