For far too long, the critical issue of the gender health care gap has been sidelined in global climate discussions. COP29, this year’s United Nations climate summit, offers a pivotal opportunity to rectify this oversight by prioritizing women’s health in climate action and enhancing global resilience.
The gender health gap already means millions of women are unable to access the health care, treatment, and support they need. Across Africa, this is accentuated by the lack of health care infrastructure and high disease burden. In addition, the effects of climate change and the alarmingly wide disparity in health care are becoming increasingly challenging to address.
Women are disproportionately affected by diseases such as malaria, waterborne infections, and respiratory illnesses. In 2022 alone, across 33 countries in the World Health Organization African region with moderate to high malaria transmission rates, 36% of pregnancies were exposed to malaria infection. This contributes to underweight births, increased susceptibility to malaria among infants, and increased risk of neonatal death. Around 94% of malaria cases globally in 2022 were in the WHO African region.
About the author
Yacine Djibo
Yacine Djibo is the founder and executive director of Speak Up Africa, a nonprofit based in Dakar, Senegal, working to accelerate public health and sustainable development in Africa for people across the continent to engage their policymakers, business leaders and communities in collaborating for tangible health and sanitation solutions.
