Climate change

Globally, climate change is threatening  access to clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply and safe shelter. Lower and middle-income countries are particulated impacted with rising sea levels, frequent and extreme weather events, heatwaves and droughts, forest fires and increase in mosquito-borne diseases like malaria. Human activities are causing the earth to become warmer and resultant changes are altering the geographic range and seasonality of certain infectious diseases besides disturbing food-producing ecosystems. Countries are realising the urgency to have well-prepared and responsive health systems to prevent and minimise  health risks posed by climate change.

The Paris Agreement is the first universal and legally binding agreement on climate change that was adopted in 2015. WHO supports countries in building climate-resilient health systems and tracking national progress in protecting health from climate change India has drafted a policy on the National Action Plan on climate change outlining ways to reduce impact of climate change by applying principles of adaptation and mitigation in health systems.  More awareness is needed to strengthen public health systems, emergency response programmes and research on reducing impact on human lives.