NEW DELHI: With climate change emerging as the single biggest threat facing humanity and nearly 13 million lives lost every year due to avoidable environmental causes, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called for prioritising equitable health and accelerating steps to protect ecological systems and health to build well-being societies.
“Climate change is putting the health, well-being, and sustainable development of billions of people across the region and the world at risk. It imperils decades of progress in reducing disease-related morbidity and mortality. We must act now to keep humans and our planet healthy,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region (SEARO).
WHO urged governments and people to take measures to protect ‘our planet, our health,’ the theme of the 2022 World Health Day, a global health awareness day celebrated globally on April 7.
Climate change is expected to cause an additional 250,000 deaths annually between 2030 and 2050.
The WHO SEARO is home to more than 2 billion people, which is highly vulnerable to climate change as it has the highest estimated number of deaths due to climate change.
Intense rainfall, frequent floods, forest fires, and droughts triggered by climate change are already impacting health and livelihood and causing huge sufferings, mental health issues, deaths, and displacement, globally and in the region.
Rising temperatures are also leading to outbreaks of infectious disease, heat strokes, trauma, and even death from extreme heat. Crop failure linked to climate change is driving malnutrition and undernutrition.
The same pollutants poisoning our air are also impacting our health. Over 90 percent of people globally breathe polluted air resulting in seven million deaths every year, including 2.4 million deaths in the region, a statement said.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has further exposed the inequitable and unsustainable nature of existing political, social, and commercial decisions.
“We have a once-in-a-century opportunity to drive transformative, lasting change. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us that if decision-making is transparent, evidence-based, and inclusive, people will support bold and far-reaching policies that protect their health, families, and livelihoods,” said the Regional Director.
WHO is calling on countries to prioritize equitable health now and for the future generations-including long-term investments, well-being budgets, social protection, and legal and fiscal strategies to allow for societies to flourish and fulfill everyone’s right to health and development while protecting our planet.
The priority measures include, protecting and preserving nature, investing in essential services from water and sanitation to clean energy in health care facilities, to ensure quick and healthy energy transformation, promoting healthy and sustainable food systems and to build healthy and livable sustainable cities with green and healthy spaces to encourage physical activity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and road traffic injuries.