Taking Action to Protect Health from Climate Change
Carlos Corvalan – PAHO/WHO
Global Workshop to Evaluate Guides to Assess
Health Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change
20-23 July 2010
San José, Costa Rica
Taking Action to Protect Health from Climate Change
Carlos Corvalan – PAHO/WHO
Global Workshop to Evaluate Guides to Assess
Health Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change
20-23 July 2010
San José, Costa Rica
Basic concepts
The Climate Change challenge
An agenda for action
What constitutes
Health?
Physical,
mental health?
Social well-being?
Everything?
What constitutes
the environment?
Physical, Chemical,
Biological agents?
Social,
cultural
environment?
Everything?
What is Environmental Health?
It also refers to the
Environmental health refers
theory and practice
to those aspects of human
of assessing and controlling
health or disease which
environmental factors which can
are determined by
harm human health, or promoting
environmental
those which protect health
factors
Cardiovasc.
diseases
Environment-society-individual interaction on health
Cancer
Diabetes
Physical
inactivity
Respiratory
diseases
Causes of the causes
Migration
Transport
EnergyLung
cancer
Direct causes
Radiation
Injuries
Chemicals
Climate
change
Malaria
Cardiovasc.
diseases
Respiratory
infections
COPD
Air
pollution
Degraded
ecosystems
Health
Diarrhoea
Injuries
etc.
Desertification
Malnutrition
Water,
sanitation
Cardiovasc.
diseases
Vector
breeding
sites
Water
Intestinal scarcity
parasites
Diarrhoea
Drownings
Malnutrition etc.
Malaria
Dengue
Leishmaniasis
etc.
Global inequalities: GNI versus EBD
Env.DALYs/1000 capita per year
350
Sierra Leone
Angola
300
250
Guinea-Bissau
200
Mozambique
China
150
India
100
Brazil
Finland
Iceland USA
30000
35000
50
0
5000
10000
Afro Amro Emro Euro Searo Wpro
15000
20000
25000
GNI per capita [US$]
40000
Basic concepts
The Climate Change challenge
An agenda for action
Climate change impacts on other risk factors
Causes of the causes
Migration
Energy
Transport
Proximal causes
Radiation
Chemicals
Climate
change
Air
pollution
Degraded
ecosystems
Health
Water,
sanitation
Vector
breeding
sites
Water
scarcity
Desertification
The health effects of climate change
Climate change
produce local health impacts
and increase inequalities
Climate change begins with…
the most vulnerable groups:
Children under 5;
Pregnant women;
Elderly people;
Marginalized rural, urban
and indigenous populations;
Displazed persons
The most vulnerable to environmental changes are
the least responsible for their cause
Climate change: children are the worst affected
88% of the burden of disease attributable to
climate change affects children under 5
climate change begins with…
the most vulnerable regions:
With high transmission of climate
sensitive diseases;
Low food production;
Water scarcity;
Island and coastal cities
Mountain communities
Climate change begins with…
the most important
public health problems:
Communicable diseases;
Food security;
Disaster risks
Water quality and access
Disease vectors
Many of the major killers are climate sensitive
- Each year:
- Undernutrition kills 3.5 million
- Diarrhoea kills 2.2 million
- Malaria kills over 900 thousand
Each of these is highly sensitive to temperature
and precipitation
Basic concepts
The Climate Change challenge
An agenda for action
Global Workplan for addressing the implications of climate change for health
and health systems
Workplan Aims:
• Support health systems in all countries, in order to enhance capacity for assessing
and monitoring health vulnerability, risks and impacts due to climate change;
• Identify strategies and actions to protect human health, particularly of the most
vulnerable groups; and
• Share knowledge and good practices.
Strengthen
health
systems
Global
Workplan
Objectives
Evidence
Addressing the
implications of
climate change
for health Partnerships
Raising
awareness
Workplan Objectives:
1. Raising awareness of the effects of climate change on health, in order to prompt
action for public health measures.
2. Engage in partnerships with other United Nations organizations and sectors other
than the health sector at national, regional and international levels, in order to ensure
that health protection and health promotion are central to climate change adaptation
and mitigation policies
3. Promote and support the generation of scientific evidence
4. Strengthen health systems to cope with the health threats posed by climate
change, including emergencies related to extreme weather events and sea-level rise
Actions from the local to the global setting
We have only one Mother Earth