Washington, DC, September 27, 2017 (PAHO / WHO) - The health sector has the opportunity and needs to engage more strongly in public debate on the effects of climate change, especially at the country level, concluded panelists who participated in a side event on this subject, held during the 29th Pan American Sanitary Conference of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne expressed concern that the health sector is not sufficiently represented in the high-level discussions on climate change, and that more work is needed at the national level on prevention and adaptation to health impacts. She noted that the recent hurricanes and earthquakes that have hit the Region of the Americas highlight the importance of considering health in all actions to address climate change.

"In a natural disaster, the immediate need is always health. We have to incorporate the health sector into proposals for funding on climate change," she said. "We need more leadership and coordination in terms of the health response, but also in terms of mitigation and adaptation." 

Event on climate change

Etienne vowed that PAHO will strengthen its work on climate change and its effects on health in order to give greater support to countries in the region. She also underscored the disproportionate impact of natural disasters on the smaller islands in the region and the substantial costs of recovery, particularly in the health sector. The challenge, she acknowledged, is to measure how these climatic phenomena affect the health sector and to work in strengthening it so that the hospitals are not without electricity nor other essential supplies in climate-related emergencies.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus affirmed the urgency of the problem: "It has never been clearer in this region, at this moment, that urgent action is needed to address the health impacts of climate change All countries are vulnerable," adding that, "[w]e are focused both on adapting to climate change, but more importantly on mitigating it. True primary interventions means removing the source of the problem, not just treating its effects." At the COP-23 meeting in Germany in November, WHO will launch its special initiative on climate change and health in small islands, he announced.

For his part, the Minister of Health of Panama, Miguel Mayo, agreed that climate change is a threat that affects us all directly or indirectly. He called for "investing in measures to mitigate its effects" and highlighted the inequalities regarding preparation that exist between the countries of Latin America, on which PAHO and WHO must work to improve. He added that health should be better represented in international forums and policies. 

"We have to solve the problem now for our children and the next generations. What else do we have to wait for to act immediately?" said the Panamanian minister. 

The health sector cannot focus only on responding to emergencies because climate change affects more aspects of society, from food security to tourism and infrastructure. The health sector must lead the process, including coordinating programs like the "healthy cities" movement, aimed to prevent the effects of climate change, and integrate more than one sector into the response, explained the Deputy Director of PAHO, Isabella Danel. The health sector must lead in the preparation to anticipate problems that may occur, she added.

Grenada's ambassador to the Organization of American States, Angus Friday, underlined the particularly devastating impact that hurricanes and other similar phenomena have on smaller islands. He explained that because of climate change, the frequency of these disasters is making it increasingly difficult for islands to recover. "It is not a damage that our islands can sustain over time," he said.

Friday explained that the funds must go beyond humanitarian assistance after the disaster, to support the recovery of these islands. He pointed out that this type of foresight must be sustained and exist within programs, and that it is crucial to work with different agencies to create a fund to assist these islands in the post-disaster period.

Theresa Tam, Chief of Public Health Canada, outlined the challenges facing her country in terms of climate change, in particular how Canada has begun to address the social determinants of health associated with these changes. She offered her country's cooperation in helping PAHO implement some of these initiatives at the level of the smaller islands.

The Director of Climate Change and Sustainable Development of the Inter-American Development Bank, Juan Pablo Bonilla, called for working more closely with finance ministers to address mitigation plans also from the point of view of health, to consider health elements while improving infrastructure programs in cities as well as rural areas.

Links

- 29th Pan American Sanitary Conference
See the full event on climate change here