Evidence supports urgent action to avoid grave health consequences from climate change

A press release from the World Health Organization: Evidence is linking climate change to five major health consequences—disease and injury from extreme weather events; changing distribution of insect-borne diseases; diarrhoeal disease from water scarcity or flooding; compromised food security; and air pollution. Over 300 heads of government, leading scientists and development partners agreed that without adequate action climate change poses unacceptable risks to global public health, and they put forward ways for increasing health in tandem with climate change mitigation and adaptation at the WHO’s first-ever Conference on Health and Climate in Geneva, Switzerland, on 27–29 August 2014.

Examples underscoring the urgent need to address climate change as a health issue are rapidly mounting. One of the 128 European region participants from 32 countries attending the Conference, Elisabetta Colaiacomo from Italy’s Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea, described t
hat, “Italy, and the Mediterranean basin, is very much a ‘hot point’ for the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and heat-waves, are more frequent now than in the past and present a distinct climate-related threat to health. Urgent actions are needed to develop a prompt response to all the threats to the environment and health. These actions will need to consider local and regional relevance, tackling issues in a concrete and intersectoral manner.” Colaiacomo added, “It is our commitment to work for concrete co-benefits, and bringing together the health and environment communities to strengthen a common dialogue and speak with a stronger voice to face the common challenges.”

...Reflected in the implementation of the Parma “Commitment to act” and the European Regional Framework for Action is the need to develop a health sector that can optimally fulfill a leadership role in climate change mitigation, such as by identifying critical health consequences and reducing carbon emissions from operations. Ainash Sharshenova, Scientific and Production Centre for Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, Kyrgyzstan, said, “Kyrgyzstan is a very mountainous country; almost 90% of the land area is more than 1,500m above sea level. As such, we experience specific impacts of climate change, such as melting glaciers and increases in desertification. These effects are having impacts on health through flooding and landslides, as well as extreme weather events. I think it is very important that the health sector leads by example. In Kyrgyzstan, WHO and UNDP/GEF have supported innovation in energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in the health sector. By promoting the use of renewable energy sources and energy-saving technologies in the health sector we have shown that it is sustainable, it can enhance business continuity in rural areas, and it supports both climate change mitigation and adaptation.”

WHO urges action on climate change to protect health

Megan Darby in Responding to Climate Change: Leading health experts are urging stronger action on climate change, as the first ever global conference to link the two fields kicks off in Geneva. Bringing together meteorologists, diplomats and medics – not to mention the Prince of Wales – the gathering will highlight health threats from climate change, and joint solutions.

The World Health Organization (WHO), hosting the three-day conference, said green energy and transport policies could save millions of lives each year, by cutting air pollution. It also called for initiatives to help communities prepare for heat, extreme weather, infectious diseases and food insecurity caused by climate change.

“The evidence is overwhelming: climate change endangers human health,” said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO director general. “Solutions exist and we need to act decisively to change this trajectory.”

The rallying cry builds momentum for action ahead of a climate summit to be hosted by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon next month. At that summit, world leaders will be invited to make commitments to climate action. The idea is to engage heads of state with the issue before a global treaty is signed in Paris, December 2015.

Christiana Figueres, the UN’s climate chief, encouraged delegates to push for a strong agreement. This will “chart a course towards a world with clean air and water, abundant natural resources and happy, health populations,” she said. “Seen in this light, the climate agreement is actually a public health agreement.”...

WHO releases new guidelines on drinking water quality

Xinhua: The World Health Organization (WHO) launched its updated edition of drinking water guidelines here on Monday to push water suppliers to systematically manage the potential risk of contaminants entering water, from the catchment to the consumer. The WHO said the new guidelines, launched at the Singapore International Water Week, can help governments strengthen their management of drinking water quality by adopting water safety planning.

"Countries have an opportunity to make substantial public health progress by setting and applying effective and appropriate standards for ensuring safe water," said Maria Neira, WHO director of public environment and health.

The guidelines, which have been the most authoritative framework on drinking-water quality and often form the basis for national laws and regulations, requires "a paradigm shift in drinking-water management for many countries," WHO said.

"Shifting to a primary prevention approach is more effective, costs less, and gives us the flexibility to deal with new pressures threatening water safety such as climate change, population growth, and urbanization," Neira said.

The new guidelines contained comprehensive good practice recommendations for the first time at different levels, from household rainwater harvesting and safe storage through to policy advice on bulk water supply and the implications of climate change....

Drinking water, shot by Alex Anlicker, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license