DUBAI, UAE – The inaugural Health Day at COP28 on Sunday saw a strong push by some global leaders, led by US Climate Envoy John Kerry, for a swift transition away from the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. While some ministers of health among the 50 countries gathered for the day also echoed Kerry’s call […] Continue reading ->
At the 2016 UN Climate Conference in Marrakesh, a small group of public health professionals from around the world laid out the shocking connections between the more than half a million childhood pneumonia deaths annually and children’s routine exposures to air pollution from both household and outdoor sources. While this was a first, our health-focused […] Continue reading ->
The global health community must stop treating water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as a little issue because it is not, according to Annie Msosa, the advocacy advisor for WaterAid in Malawi. Speaking to Garry Aslanyan on the most recent episode of the Global Health Matters podcast, she said that “governments are spending on WASH… They […] Continue reading ->
DUBAI, UAE – In what is being described as a historic and pivotal moment by top COP28 and World Health Organization (WHO) officials, 124 countries have endorsed the Declaration of Climate and Health. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President of COP28 in Dubai, made the announcement. “We have received commitments from 123 countries that are […] Continue reading ->
A project born from community advocacy and Indigenous leadership has catalysed a unique partnership between a small, rural Australian community and global health experts, shining a light on the link between climate, health and the power of community-driven change. Systematic water mismanagement combined with droughts and floods exacerbated by climate change has led to […] Continue reading ->
LUSAKA, Zambia – The silver lining to Africa being denied access to COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic is how it has galvanised continental leaders to focus on self-reliance – instead of depending on wealthy countries for assistance. The determination to build the continent’s health systems capacity was abundantly evident at this week’s Conference on Public […] Continue reading ->
As the world continues to burn fossil fuels, heatwaves and air pollution are getting worse, and increasing the pressure on human health. This is exacerbating the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which comprise the lion’s share of the world’s disease burden, experts at COP28 said on the opening day of the summit on Thursday. “We […] Continue reading ->
I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading ->
The world will soon know whether a petrostate can steer the global fight against climate change as the 28th UN Climate Conference (COP28) opens in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two-week summit, expected to draw a record 70,000 delegates from more than 200 countries, marks the largest gathering of world leaders this year. The […] Continue reading ->
LUSAKA, Zambia — A new African civil society network to address pandemics and climate crises was introduced publicly on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA). The Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA) has been established by over 30 African organizations that are part of the global Pandemic Action Network […] Continue reading ->