The resolution marks the WHO’s commitment to encourage support for implementing policies and strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change on health
The World Health Assembly passed a resolution highlighting the increasing impact of climate change on health and called for radical measures to counter health risks on May 31.
Underscoring the urgency of dealing with health risks posed by climate change, the member countries supported the resolution which said it was time to prioritise it in national and international climate policy frameworks.
Seen as a key moment in the World Health Organization’s battle against climate change and its impact on health, the resolution underlines the need for collective action on a global scale.
The resolution marks the WHO’s commitment to encourage support for implementing policies and strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change on health.
At the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), more than 123 countries adopted a declaration that noted the benefits for health from reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets.
For the first time, $1 billion in financing for climate and health was announced during COP28.
In 2023, according to the State of Environment in Figures 2024, India experienced its second-hottest year on record and its hottest minimum temperature in 122 years.
On May 29, a north Delhi weather station recorded the highest-ever temperature at 52.9 degrees Celsius. Two spells of heatwaves were also recorded during May.
As a result, a minimum of 33 people across the country lost their lives to heatstrokes as of Friday, Reuters reported. This also included election officials as the country participated in the world’s largest democratic exercise, namely the general elections of 2024.
Occupational heat stress affects labourers and farmers directly exposed to excessive sunlight as part of their physically demanding tasks at work.
Over 20,000 people with chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology died in Central America alone, according to the report released on April 2024 by the International Labour Organization. About 26.2 million people worldwide were living with chronic kidney disease linked to occupational heat stress.
Further, due to the increasing threat of climate change, the months conducive to dengue transmission by the Aedes Aegypti breed of mosquitos have risen by 5.6 months yearly in India, according to the Lancet Countdown on Climate Change and Health.
On June 1, the WHA is hosting a panel discussion to take further, the momentum built at COP28 on the overwhelming impact of climate change on health.
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