{"id":4812,"date":"2019-08-22T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=4812"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:30:29","slug":"18-african-countries-yet-to-link-health-to-climate-action-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2019\/08\/22\/18-african-countries-yet-to-link-health-to-climate-action-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"18 African Countries Yet To Link Health To Climate Action Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Down to Earth<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eighteen African\ncountries are yet to integrate health components in their national plans to\nmitigate climate change, according to a report<\/a> by the World\nHealth Organization (WHO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 47 African countries\nhad, in 2011, recognised the health impacts of climate change and adopted a\nframework to link it to public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, eight years\nafter, only 29 countries have developed and implemented the health-related\nNational Adaptation Plan (HNAP). The HNAP ensures that both health issues and\nhealth authorities are represented in every country\u2019s efforts to build\nresilience to climate change.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 2017 and 2019,\n19 more countries conducted vulnerability and adaptation assessments and 12\ndeveloped HNAPs to climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report will be\npresented at the ongoing 69th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa\nin Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WHO had, earlier,\nprojected that 46 countries<\/a> in the\nSub-Saharan Africa will have the greatest burden of mortality attributable to\nclimate change in the next decade (by 2030).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change plays a\nsignificant role in increasing\ninfectious diseases<\/a>, like diarrheoa, extending the transmission season of\nmalaria and dengue and accelerates their spread. It is responsible for\nheatwaves, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory and renal\ndiseases. It also plays a role in malnutrition and undernutrition. The\nframework was aimed at limiting these adverse public health effects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The adoption HNAPs\nneeds to be fast-tracked in the remaining 18 countries, which include the\nDemocratic Republic of the Congo and Chad, that are vulnerable to climate\nrisks, the WHO said. These were stalled due to challenges such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n