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Tag: climate change

  • Ten eyewitness reports from the frontline of climate change and health

    Ten eyewitness reports from the frontline of climate change and health

    The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) has created a platform enabling health workers to describe the impacts of climate change on their local communities. Here are ten of the most striking reports.

    Published on 30 November 2023 on the Gavi #VaccinesWork blog. Written by Ian Jones for Gavi.

    In July 2023, more than 1,200 health workers from 68 countries shared their experiences of changes in climate and health at a unique Geneva Learning Foundation event designed to shed light on the realities of climate impacts on the health of the communities they serve.

    A special TGLF report – On the frontline of climate change and health: A health worker eyewitness report – includes a compendium and analysis of these 1,200 health workers’ observations and insights. Here are ten of the most striking.

    Samuel Chukwuemeka Obasi, who works for the Ministry of Health in Abuja, Nigeria, has noticed big changes to the environment.

    “Going back home to the community where I grew up as a child, I was shocked to see that most of the rivers we used to swim and fish in have all dried up, and those that are still there have become very shallow, so that you can easily walk through a river you required a boat to cross in years past.”

    Iruoma Chinedu Ofortube, who works at the district level in Lagos State, Nigeria, recounts two stories that illustrate the lethal impact of extreme weather.

    “A family embarked on a journey without potentially expecting any danger. Sadly, on their way, heavy rainfall started. The family was oblivious to the reality that the rain started ahead of them while they were en route to their destination. Unfortunately, they ran into a massive flood near a river. The force and the current from the flood swept their vehicle down the river, and before help could come for them, they drowned helplessly alongside other victims of the same circumstances.

    “There was also a pregnant woman in labour. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get a strong boat or canoe that could stand the high current and waves coming from the seaside. In the process of searching for a better means of taking her to the nearest health centre, she got exhausted and died.”

    Assoumane Mahamadou Issifou, who works for an NGO in Agadez, Niger, points out how food shortages are leading to malnutrition and anaemia, particularly in women and children.

    “During the five years that I served in the health service in the Agadez region, I observed significant changes, particularly in the occurrence of heavy rains, which were uncommon in the past. These heavy rains have led to flooding and the displacement of populations, often forcing them to settle wherever they can. Due to their vulnerability during these challenging times, children and women suffer greatly.

    “This situation, especially prevalent among newborns and children under five, contributes to malnutrition. The challenges persist because the Agadez region is situated in a desert area with very low rainfall.

    “However, even with minimal rain, the region faces immense difficulties. Nutritional foods are insufficient, and environmental degradation compounds the issue. As a result, the population struggles to access daily sustenance. Pregnant women and children lack foods rich in vitamins, leading to undernourishment and subsequent diseases such as malnutrition and anaemia.

    “Historically, Agadez was known for its scarcity of rain. With the recent climate change-induced increase in rainfall, few people have come to accept and understand this phenomenon. The region’s architecture is outdated, and the city has transformed into a migratory hub where diverse behaviours converge. New diseases emerge, and the indigenous population is grappling with illnesses that were previously unknown to them.”

    A woman working for the Ministry of Health in the DRC, based in Kinshasa, describes how water level changes are affecting insect proliferation and leading to changing patterns of malaria and other diseases.

    “A drought, characterised by a drop in rainfall during recent rainy seasons, has affected the City Province of Kinshasa, particularly in the Makelele District (located in the Bandalungwa commune) where I live.

    “This area is bordered by two rivers, Mâkelele 1 and 2. The scarcity of rain in the region during the past rainy seasons has led to a significant reduction in water flow within these two rivers. Consequently, rubbish and debris have accumulated along the riverbanks.

    “This situation has resulted in the proliferation of mosquitoes and other unidentified insects. This increase in insect activity has not only led to a rise in malaria cases, but has also given rise to a newly emerging form of dermatosis, the exact nature of which is yet to be determined. It is suspected that these skin lesions develop due to scratching after insect bites. Disturbingly, over 10% of the population within the municipality has been affected by this condition.”

    Dieudonne Tanasngar, who works for the Ministry of Health in Chad, explains how displacement contributes to poor sanitation practices, leading to increased spread of water-borne diseases.

    “In Lake Chad, during the rainy season, the various arms of the lake expand, causing flooding that affects the villages situated along its shores. This flooding often forces the inhabitants to relocate to higher ground.

    “However, a significant portion of the population around the lake lacks proper sanitation facilities, leading to open defecation near the water’s edge. As the water levels rise, this practice contributes to the spread of diseases, particularly when access to health care facilities becomes challenging.

    “Access to health care centres is hindered by the need to cross one or two bodies of water before reaching the nearest facility. This geographical challenge adds to the difficulties faced by the affected population. Consequently, a range of diseases can emerge and afflict the community due to these conditions.

    “The combination of poor sanitation practices, flooding, and limited access to health care facilities creates a complex situation that requires concerted efforts to improve living conditions, sanitation infrastructure, and health care access for the people living around Lake Chad.”

    Coulibaly Seydou, who works for the Ministry of Health in Boussé District, Burkina Faso, has noted how changing dietary habits, alongside declining mental wellbeing, is leading to an increased risk of non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

    “For several years, the pattern of rainfall has been becoming increasingly irregular. The duration of the rainy season is progressively getting shorter, interspersed with periods of drought. This unpredictability makes it challenging for farmers to adjust their crop choices according to the rainfall pattern, leading to growing concerns. Discussions about the upcoming rainy season can induce anxiety and worry among rural communities.

    “When it comes to the impact of climate change on mental health, we can observe a significant disturbance in the well-being of farmers. Even just a couple of days without rainfall can trigger a sense of sadness among them. Instances of minor depression have been noted among household heads who helplessly witness their crops withering due to inadequate moisture.

    “In terms of physical health, there has been an uptick in the prevalence of diseases and conditions that can be attributed to changes in dietary habits. Conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity are on the rise. This can be linked to the shift towards consuming industrially processed foods that are low in nutritional value and high in chemical additives.”

    A man working for the Ministry of Health in Beni in the DRC describes the tragic case of a family driven into poverty and unable to afford health care for the children.

    “As a result of the disruption in the seasonal shifts, a modest family reliant solely on agriculture experienced the tragic death of their young son within their community.

    “The critical factors involved were as follows: their crop yield plummeted to zero due to their inability to manage the erratic changes in the seasons, and malnutrition, likely compounded by other illnesses, afflicted the family. Faced with financial constraints stemming from the complete failure of their agricultural efforts, they resorted to providing home-based care for their family.

    “Tragically, their youngest son paid the ultimate price with his life. In summary, the ever-changing climate dynamics have left us disoriented and uncertain about the future.”

    Fokzia Elijah, who works for the Ministry of Health in the Province of Batha, Chad, highlights how climate change is having multiple health and social impacts, particularly on pastoralists.

    “Batha is the first pastoral province, often experiencing prolonged droughts followed by irregular and sometimes excessive rainfall. These climatic variations lead to challenges in cattle herding, house collapses, and difficulties in sustaining pastoralism, which typically lasts only two to three months.

    “Pastoralists often migrate southward with women and children following them. Consequently, malnutrition prevails, affecting over 14% of the population, with women and children being the most vulnerable. Women who remain in the villages demonstrate resilience by engaging in limited market gardening and gathering wild oilseeds to produce sweet syrup for porridge.

    “A significant issue is the death of animals between March and June due to inadequate pasture and water. This impacts the most vulnerable, particularly women and children. Batha Province, once renowned for its diverse flora and fauna, has seen the disappearance of most animals except for birds. Hyena attacks have become frequent as they search for food in communities, often targeting domestic pets.”

    Linda Raji, who works for an NGO in the Kaida and Waru communities in Nigeria, highlights the implication of enviornmental change for young women – one of a range of gender-specific impacts of climate change.

    “Prolonged drought dries up the dirty community stream that serves both livestock and residents. This makes it difficult for community members to access water and much harder for menstrual hygiene management for teenage girls leading to an increase in infections in the unbearable heat.

    “Due to the difficulty in managing the monthly menstrual cycle due to limited access to water sanitation hygiene and period poverty, many teenage girls prefer to get pregnant to save them the worry of menstruating monthly for nine months.”

    Dr Chinedu Anthony Iwu, who works at a health facility in Orlu Local Government Area in Nigeria, describes how working with communities can build resilience to climate change impacts.

    “The changing climate has brought about an increase in the prevalence of vector-borne diseases. Mosquitoes are now breeding and transmitting diseases like malaria more intensely. The community lacked proper health care facilities and resources to effectively combat these diseases, leading to a rise in illness and mortality rates. Mothers’ means of livelihood were usually disrupted due to the time and effort spent in caring for their sick children with a significant impact on household welfare.

    “Recognising the urgent need to address these climate-related health challenges, we engaged in community-led initiatives that included comprehensive health awareness campaigns to provide education on sanitation and hygiene practices, and education of residents about preventive measures against vector-borne diseases. By engaging our community health extension workers, we were able to organise regular health check-ups in the communities, focusing on early detection and treatment of illnesses.

    “Over time, these collective efforts began to yield positive results. The mothers in the communities witnessed improvements in income as they progressively began to spend less time pursuing children’s health care challenges due to the adoption of preventive measures, thereby becoming more resilient to the changing climate.

    This experience highlights the challenges faced by rural communities in Nigeria due to climate change. It demonstrates the importance of community engagement, sustainable practices, and support from relevant stakeholders in addressing the climate-health nexus and building resilience in the face of a changing climate.”

    Photo credit: Aerial view of a flooded urban residential area of Dera Allah yar city in Jaffarabad District, Baluchistan Province, Pakistan. Credit: Gavi/2022/Asad Zaidi

  • Before, during, and after COP28: Climate crisis and health, through the eyes of health workers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America 

    Before, during, and after COP28: Climate crisis and health, through the eyes of health workers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America 

    Samuel Chukwuemeka Obasi, a health professional from Nigeria:

    “Going back home to the community where I grew up as a child, I was shocked to see that most of the rivers we used to swim and fish in have all dried up, and those that are still there have become very shallow so that you can easily walk through a river you required a boat to cross in years past.”

    In July 2023, more than 1200 health workers from 68 countries shared their experiences of changes in climate and health, at a unique event designed to shed light on the realities of climate impacts on the health of the communities they serve.

    Before, during and after COP28, we are sharing health workers’ observations and insights.

    Follow The Geneva Learning Foundation to learn how climate change is affecting health in multiple ways:

    • How extreme weather events can lead to tragic loss of life.
    • How changing weather patterns are leading to crop failures and malnutrition, and forcing people to abandon their homes.
    • How infectious diseases are surging as mosquitoes proliferate and water sources are contaminated.
    • How climate stresses are particularly problematic for those with existing health conditions, like cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
    • How climate impacts are having a devastating effect on mental health as people’s ways of life are destroyed.
    • How climate change is changing the very fabric of society, driving displacement and social hardship that undermines health and wellbeing.
    • How a volatile climate is disrupting the delivery of essential health services and people’s ability to access them.
    • We will finish the series with  inspiring stories of how health workers are already responding to such challenges, working with communities to counter the effects of a changing climate.

    On 1 December 2023, TGLF will be publishing a compendium and analysis of these 1200 contributions – On the frontline of climate change and health: A health worker eyewitness report. Get the report…

    This landmark report – a global first – kickstarts our campaign to ensure that health workers in the Global South are recognized as:

    • The people already having to manage the impacts of climate change on health.
    • An essential voice to listen to in order to understand climate impacts on health.
    • A potentially critical group to work with to protect the health of communities in the face of a changing climate.

    Before, during, and after COP28, we are advocating for the recognition and support of health workers as trusted advisers to communities bearing the brunt of climate change effects on health.

    Watch the Special Event: From community to planet: Health professionals on the frontlines of climate change

  • Learning from Frontline Health Workers in the Climate Change Era

    Learning from Frontline Health Workers in the Climate Change Era

    By Julie Jacobson, Alan Brooks, Charlotte Mbuh, and Reda Sadki

    The escalating threats of climate change cast long shadows over global health, including increases in disease epidemics, profound impacts on mental health, disruptions to health infrastructure, and alterations in the severity and geographical distribution of diseases.

    Mitigating the impact of such shadows on communities will test the resilience of health infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and especially challenge frontline health workers. The need for effective and cost-efficient public health interventions, such as immunization, will evolve and grow.

    Health workers, approximately 70% of which are women, that provide immunization and other health services will be trusted local resources to the communities they serve, further amplifying their centrality in resilient health systems.

    Listening to and building upon the experiences and insights of frontline health workers as they live with and increasingly work to address the manifestations of climate change on health is pivotal to the collective, global response today and in the years to come.

    We imagine a future of health workers connected to each other, learning directly from the successes and challenges of others by choosing to engage in digital, peer-supported, peer-learning networks regardless of the remoteness or location of their communities. Success will lie in a nimbleness and ability to quickly see new emerging patterns and respond to evolving needs of individuals and communities.

    Such a future shines a light on the importance of new ways of thinking about global health, leadership, who should have a “voice”, starting from a position of equity not hierarchy, and the value that peers ascribe to each other. The hyperlocal impact of climate change on health cannot be mitigated only through global pronouncements and national policies. It requires local knowledge and understanding.

    Recognizing this unique position of health workers, Bridges to Development and The Geneva Learning Foundation, two Swiss non-profits, are supporting this first-ever, large peer-learning event for frontline health workers to share their experiences and insights on climate change and health.

    More than 1,100 health workers have already shared their observations of changes in climate and health affecting the communities they serve in over 60 countries. They will be sharing their stories and insights at the Special Event: From community to planet: Health professionals on the frontlines of climate change, but you can already read short summaries from Guatemala; India and Mongolia; Bénin, Gambia, and Kenya.

    Starting from a Call to Action shared through the Movement for Immunization Agenda (IA2030), the call has “gone viral” through local communities and districts: over 4,500 people – most of them government workers involved in primary health care services in LMICs – registered to participate and contribute.

    Almost every health worker responding says that they are very worried about climate change, and that, for them, it is already a grave threat to the health of the communities they serve.

    Taken together, their observations, while imperfect, paint a daunting picture. This picture, consistent with global statistics and other data, helps to bring to life global pronouncements of the dire implications of climate change for health in LMICs.

    Amid this immense and dire challenge lies an opportunity to shift from a rigid, academically-dominated approach to a decentralized, democratized recognition and learning about the health impacts of climate change. This shift underscores the importance of amplifying insights from those who are bearing the brunt of the consequences of climate change, and recognizing the special role of health service workers as bridges between their communities and those working elsewhere to address similar challenges.

    This perspective requires those of us working at the global level to critically evaluate and challenge our biases and assumptions. The notion that only climate or health specialists can offer meaningful insights or credible solutions should be questioned. The understanding of climate change’s impact on epidemiology of disease, mental health and other manifestations – and the strategies employed to mitigate them – can be substantially enriched and sharpened by welcoming the voices of those on the frontlines. By doing so, we can foster a more comprehensive, inclusive, equitable and effective response to the challenges posed by climate change.

    The thousands of members of the Movement for the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) and others who have initiated this global dialogue around climate and health may be forging a new path, showing the feasibility and value of the global health community listening to and supporting the potential of frontline health workers to shine the brightest of lights into the shadow cast worldwide by climate change.

    This editorial is a contribution to the Special Event: From community to planet: Health professionals on the frontlines of climate change.

    About the authors

    Julie Jacobson and Alan Brooks are co-founders and managing partners of Bridges to Development. Jacobson was the president of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in 2020-2021. Bridges to Development, a nonprofit founded in 2018 based in Europe and the US, strives to build on the world’s significant progress to date towards a stronger and more resilient future.

    Reda Sadki and Charlotte Mbuh lead the Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF). The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) is a non-profit implementing its vision to catalyze transformation through large scale peer and mentoring networks led by frontline actors facing critical threats to our societies. Learn more: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7316466.

    Illustration: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2023. All rights reserved.

  • What does immunization have to do with climate change?

    What does immunization have to do with climate change?

    With climate-driven shifts in disease patterns and emerging health threats, the need for a robust immunization infrastructure is more obvious than ever. As the demand for both existing and novel vaccines rises in response to an expanding disease burden and new health threats, immunization staff will inevitably play a key role.

    Immunization staff, trusted health advisors to communities, already stand as sometimes-overburdened but always critical actors in resilient health systems.

    These professionals, entrusted with administering vaccines, contribute to preventing disease outbreaks and maintaining population health. Furthermore, their direct engagement with local communities, their intimate understanding of community health concerns, and their role as trusted advisors position them to recognize and respond to emerging health needs.

    The role of immunization and other primary health care (PHC) staff as health educators becomes increasingly pertinent in a changing climate. By leveraging their experience in working with communities to understand and accept health interventions, immunization staff can help those they serve to make sense of the complex relationships between climate and health – and develop appropriate responses.

    Through digital networks, we see health professionals connected to each other, learning from each other’s successes, lessons learned, and challenges. We imagine that these networks, if properly nurtured and sustained, will become increasingly important as health workers face the interconnected consequences of climate change on health within the local communities where they work for health. This also require new ways of thinking and new leadership, in addition to a new kind of digital health infrastructure to support turning learning into action.

    As we step into a world facing escalating health threats from a changing climate, the crucial role of immunization staff in protecting communities will become more pronounced.

    Existing approaches – even the ones that so impressively moved the needle of vaccination coverage and health in the past – may now need to be reconsidered and adapted to face new challenges and new threats that we know are coming.

    By supporting the will and commitment of immunization staff who are concerned about the consequences of climate on health, and then expanding to include other health professionals, we may find that immunization can serve as a pathfinder to strengthen health systems and promote health equity. We may even find practical, meaningful ways for frontline health professionals and communities to forge together a new leadership for global health.

    Learn more about the Geneva Learning Foundation’s special event: From community to planet: Health professionals on the frontlines of climate change.