This project provides targeted support to five countries in Africa and Asia (Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal and Bangladesh) to improve climate-resilient health service delivery. The main objectives of the project are to enhance climate-resilient water safety and sanitation management to effectively respond to climate change impacts, as well as to develop integrated surveillance for climate-sensitive diseases and, where feasible, early warning systems. This project builds on a previous initiative on climate-resilient water and sanitation systems in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Nepal.
The problem
Water and sanitation services are essential to public health. A lack of these services causes almost 1,000 deaths among children under-5 every day, and greatly enhances the risk of numerous conditions and diseases through the spread and intake of unclean water. Ensuring that water and sanitation services are effective and sustainable is a critical challenge, particularly as extreme events induced by climate change (such as floods, storms, heatwaves, and droughts) become more common. These weather events threaten the health and wellbeing of populations by causing direct harm to populations and by increasing the risk of several climate-sensitive diseases (including, among others, cholera, malaria, and dengue).
There has been limited action in developing countries to make investments to build more climate-resilient services. This project addresses this gap by improving the resilience of water and sanitation services, as well as the surveillance and preparedness systems of climate-sensitive diseases in select African and Asian countries (Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal and Bangladesh).
The goal
The goal of the project is to support Ethiopia, Nepal, and Bangladesh to improve the resilience of water and sanitation services to effectively respond to climate-related changes in the incidence of water and sanitation related diseases. The project also aims to support Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal and Bangladesh to develop integrated surveillance and early warning systems to identify and respond to climate-sensitive diseases.
The project
The four-year project, initiated in 2018, has two main components:
Component 1: Strengthen health surveillance systems capable of responding to and preparing for climate threats (climate-sensitive diseases, particularly cholera)
Integrated disease surveillance involves integrating multiple surveillance systems to use data and resources more efficiently. This component supports countries in integrating national health and climate/weather data to improve surveillance for climate-sensitive diseases, and, if feasible, help countries to establish early warning systems to better prepare for disease outbreaks.
Component 2: Develop and/or improve climate-resilient water safety and sanitation management
Water, sanitation and hygiene services are central to protecting public health. However, functionality and sustainability of these services continue to be challenged by the impacts of climate change, such as droughts, floods, and cyclones. This component aims to improve these services to make them more resilient to increasingly variable environments.
Partners
The project is funded by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). The WHO Country offices for Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal and Bangladesh, with support from WHO-HQ, are the implementing agencies, in cooperation with relevant Governmental ministries.
The future
The sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) calls for the availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for all. This includes ambitious targets for universal access to water and sanitation, improved water quality, efficient use of water by all sectors, and improved management of water resources by 2030. Sustainable access to water and sanitation services will be a defining challenge for SDG 6, particularly in the face of increased climate change impacts. This project therefore represents a significant initiative towards this goal, as providing the countries that are particularly affected by climate change with evidence and tools critical to prepare for these events is vital to meeting these goals and to save lives.