Health Minister Mehta stresses on the need to put health at the centre of climate action plan to address the challenges of climate change
Antalya, (Turkey). Minister of Health and Food Hygiene Nisha Mehta has said that climate change should be understood not only as an environmental challenge but also as a serious health crisis.
He stressed the need to keep the health sector at the centre of all efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. Minister Mehta said this while chairing a special discussion on ‘Health at the Center of Climate Action: Global Perspective’ organized by the Ministry of Health and Food Hygiene of Nepal in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and IPAS as part of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Climate Change (COP31) at the Nepal Pavilion in Antalya. In the discussion, Minister Mehta said that climate-related risks such as floods, landslides, extreme heat, changing patterns of disease, water and food insecurity are directly affecting public health. He said that such disasters will disrupt the infrastructure of health institutions, health workers, supply of medicines and health supplies, and essential health services. Presenting Nepal’
s experience, he cited the impact of the devastating floods in Rasuwa on livelihood, livelihood and access to essential health services as an example of the health risks of climate change.
He urged the developed countries to ensure accessible, predictable and grant-based access to international climate finance for climate-vulnerable and least developed countries like Nepal. He also stressed the need to incorporate health indicators into national and international action plans for climate adaptation, climate finance and policy commitments. He said that there should be a systematic assessment of the economic and non-economic impacts of death, disease, mental health, disruption of health services and damage to health infrastructure due to climate change. In the discussion, Senior Public Health Officer of the South East Asia Regional Office of the World Health Organization Dr. Gyanendra Ghogal, Founder and Executive Director of Dastak Foundation in Pakistan, Hira Amjad and UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal, Leela Peters Yahiya spoke about the interrelationship between climate change and health. Speakers at the event highlighted the need for international cooperation, policy commitments and health system resilience to address the health risks posed by climate change. At the end of the program, Minister Mehta said that a resilient future is not possible without healthy citizens and a resilient planet is necessary for healthy citizens.
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