To better anticipate and prevent future threats, health and animal surveillance as well as climate and environment information systems should be integrated to build more robust early warning systems for future crises.
Climate change is a health issue just as it is a sociopolitical and economic problem.
That is why we need these sectors to work together 🤝 to build more comprehensive preparedness plans that address the health impacts of climate emergencies 🚨
I want to emphasize three points from this plan:
1️⃣ The importance of collaboration
2️⃣ Countries must invest in their health systems 🏥
3️⃣ Health 🩺 must be part of the solution
Ahead of the Summit, PAHO has launched an Agenda for the Americas on Health, Environment, and Climate Change that offers countries a plan of action to reduce the burden of environmental risks on the health of our region 🌎
We’re encouraged that – for the first time ever – health is taking center stage at this year’s climate summit #COP26
Our health systems will be challenged by these threats, and the same health systems have the prime responsibility to “do no harm” and reduce their environmental footprint.
And these episodes are increasing in scale and frequency
A child born 👶🏾 today is expected to experience 2x as many wildfires, nearly 3x as many droughts and floods, and nearly 7x as many heatwaves over their lifetime compared to a person born in 1960
This has led to a rise in vector-borne diseases like Zika 🦟 and Chagas.
And Dengue, which typically follows a seasonal pattern, is being detected outside of its normal cycle as temperatures have warmed and as wet 🌧 seasons have prolonged.
Extreme weather ⛈ and rising temperatures have changed our ecosystems and displaced people from their homes, often forcing humans to infringe on natural habitats and animals to move to more hospitable conditions.
Wildfires 🔥 and droughts have led to crop failures that have not only impacted the livelihoods of our agricultural workforce 👩🌾 , but also increased food insecurity in our region.
