Health systems will require strengthening at multiple levels in order to withstand the worsening effects of climate change, according to Dr. Githinji Gitahi, the group CEO of Amref Health Africa.
This includes adapting health worker curriculums, establishing early warning systems, and, crucially, investing in universal health coverage to protect the most vulnerable. At the same time, health centers need to be made more resistant to extreme weather while also mitigating their own greenhouse gas emissions through, for example, investments in solar power and digitization.
However, little of the money earmarked for climate adaptation is going toward building climate resilient health systems, said Gitahi. In addition, few countries in Africa have incorporated health into their Nationally Determined Contributions. “That tells you that [health systems adaptation] is not actually an area of focus for them,” he said. Amref Health Africa is working to generate evidence for the effects of climate change and global warming on health “so that we can inform governments’ National Determined Contributions and their own national planning,” Gitahi added.
About the author
Naomi Mihara
Naomi Mihara is an Associate Editor for Devex, working on creative and audiovisual projects. She has a background in journalism and international development, having previously served as an assistant correspondent for Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun and as a communications officer for the International Organization for Migration in Southeast Asia. She holds a master’s degree in Multimedia Journalism from Bournemouth University.