AFRICA URGED TO MAINSTREAM CLIMATE EXPERTISE IN HEALTH SECTOR
By Lastword Musekiwa The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO) has called on African health ministries to integrate climate change experts into their departments to effectively address the growing climate-health challenges. Speaking at a high-level ministerial side meeting of the Climate and Health Africa Conference (CHAC 2024) in Harare yesterday, WHO-AFRO Director, Healthier Populations Cluster, Dr. Adelheid Onyango, emphasized the importance of climate expertise in health departments. Dr. Onyango “The health sector needs to identify the talent, the expertise and to get them equipped for us to send our best team forward as a region so that we get the best results as far as climate adaptation is concerned on the continent,” Dr. Onyango said. As the Director of the Universal Health Coverage/Healthier Populations Cluster, Dr. Onyango provides strategic leadership for WHO’s work with governments, development partners, civil society groups, and communities to promote and protect the health and well-being of all population groups in the WHO African Region . The high-level ministerial meeting, organized by WHO-AFRO and Wellcome Trust, aimed to develop strategies ahead of the 29th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) scheduled for next month in Baku, Azerbaijan. Speaking at the same event, Zimbabwe’s Health and Child Care Minister and chairperson of the SADC Health Ministers Committee, Dr. Douglas Mombeshora, implored African health ministers to take the lead in ensuring their governments deliver on climate commitments. Dr. Mombeshora “Commitments are critical to safeguarding the health and well-being of the continent’s population. However, these commitments need to be operationalized and implemented. This calls for political commitment and leadership by Health Ministers to strategically implement with the Finance and Environment sectors in national climate action, capacity building, and the mobilization of resources to implement,” Dr. Mombeshora stressed. CHAC 2024, hosted by the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Research (CeSHHAR) Zimbabwe, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Wildlife, and the Ministry of Health and Child Care, brings together researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to address the impacts of climate change on health and well-being in Africa.