In a sequence of online encounters, thousands of health workers from the Global South discussed how the climate is changing their work. Their insights shed new light on a pressing problem.
29 October 2024
A health worker carries a portable cooler for vaccines after completing a day of vaccinations. Credit: Gavi/2024/Mohamed Abdihakim Ali
Another year, another set of temperature records. Climate change is not just an environmental issue but a true health emergency, as reflected in the World Health Assembly’s recent resolution on climate and health, its first for 16 years.
Complementing these high-level global and national efforts, the Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), a Swiss non-profit, has been facilitating a series of online experience-sharing events. These are digital forums in which frontline health workers in the Global South have the opportunity to describe the climate effects they are witnessing, and how these changes are affecting the health and well-being of their communities.
Climate change and health was the central theme of the tenth TGLF Teach to Reach online peer-learning programme. The programme attracted a record 21,398 registrants from more than 70 countries, primarily from the district and facility levels. Their contributions underscored that climate change is very much a present-tense problem.
“I was able to see that ultimately climate change is a concern for all of us because the impact of climate change on health has become a reality of life.”
Leonidas Misago
National level, NGO, Burundi
Contributors working in very different environments found themselves converging in surprise at the great variety of climate change’s influence on health.
“During my individual networking meetings regarding climate and health, I learned several interesting and sometimes surprising things. For example, I was struck by the scale of the impacts of climate change on human health, ranging from infectious diseases to respiratory problems and mental disorders linked to climate stress.”
Ali Seydou Moumouni
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Niger
“I realised that climate change affects the entire health system. As various people shared their views I could relate to my setting. Due to the great shift in climatic conditions in my area we have noted an increase in STDs. As people migrate to town in search for jobs as there was less rain recorded in the past years. I now view climate change as a holistic matter that affects one’s entire lifestyle and health… there is need to measure its effect on the health care system and how this affects the distribution of commodities globally.”
Ntswaki Portia Phirinyane
Facility level, NGO, Botswana
Hearing their own experiences echoed and offset by the experiences of their colleagues in other countries inspired determination and even hope in some participants.
“In the depths of the plenary session ‘climate change and health’ I had new perspectives to empower the young people of my community and my country to take the environmental issue as a priority to guarantee a better future for health, not only for people but also the planet.”
Seth Tsongo
National level, NGO, DRC
“I see that there is a great opportunity to strengthen climate-health resilience in Nigeria and SSA [sub-Saharan Africa] – as a critical part of health systems strengthening. I see this as an opportunity with great rewards if properly implemented. Even as a country, evident impact of climate exists and must be addressed.”
Igbiri Sorbari
National level, Global health partner, Nigeria
“I really understood the challenges linked to climate change and their impacts on human health… I understood that we really need to take climate change into account in the development and planning aspects of our strategies.”
Solété Lionel Sogbossi
Multicountry
“During the day’s work I acquired several experiences which revealed to me the need to further strengthen actions in my local community with a view to improving the local environment to prevent the effects of climate change and its hazards on the life of local communities.”
Ladislas Witanene Milenge
District level, NGO, DRC
“This experience strengthened my motivation and commitment to protecting public health in the face of the challenges of climate change. Understanding that our actions can help mitigate these effects and protect vulnerable populations has inspired me to seek more innovative and integrated solutions. Now, I am more aware of the links between environment and health, which influences the way I think about and approach public health issues. In the future, I will strive to implement more sustainable and resilient approaches in my work, further integrating climate considerations into disease prevention and management strategies.”
Ali Seydou Moumouni
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Niger
Several respondents reported that they were already working with communities on climate issues, or intended to in the future, for example to raise awareness of risk and mitigation measures.
“I am planning to start another form of sensitisation to the community on climate change and the effects it has on health and how we can work together to improve the environment.”
Rebecca Bello
Education or research organisation, Nigeria
“I became more involved in community activities as a community champion advocate.”
Icibo Beatrice
District level, NGO, Uganda
“I learnt that we need to advocate for resources to support key populations affected by climate change. Going forward, we’ll work to advocate for increased funding in supporting key populations affected by climate change.”
Phillip King
District level, NGO, Malawi
Some respondents realised, in the course of discussions, that they needed to act now, and not wait for government initiatives.
“Giving urgent respond to employing different preventive and management strategies in handling the effects caused by climate change and not just sit and wait for the government whose interventions might come in much more later when the damages must have escalated.”
Ijebu Miedei Joseph
Health facility, Nigeria
Some respondents are sharing large-scale local initiatives they are involved with. These included acute responses to heat waves, including the provision of local cooling centres in Nigeria and an innovative long-term project in the Indian Himalayas in which health workers are experimenting with “nature prescriptions” – encouragement to spend time in nature – to promote environmentally and climate-friendly behaviour change in patients.
These examples highlight the need to move from describing the challenges to implementing measures to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change on health – and also, that local health workers have the ideas and local community connections needed to make an immediate difference in vulnerable communities.
Have you read?
Teach to Reach has grown and evolved significantly over time. Although centred on an online event with plenary sessions and themed workshops, it is much more than a standard webinar. For a start, registrants make the biggest contributions, sharing their experiences and advice with their peers. Furthermore, the event is only one part of a longer programme to support local action by encouraging participants to reflect on specific aspects of their local context and practice in advance, and to consider and report back afterwards on how participation has affected their thinking and behaviours.
Another innovation at Teach to Reach 10 was the addition of “Lightning Chats” – brief online conversations with leading figures in the themes being covered at Teach to Reach. In July, these included Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO, Renzo Guinto, a global authority on planetary health based at the National University of Singapore, and Revati Phalkey, Global Director Health and Nutrition at Save the Children International.
Teach to Reach 11 will be convened on 5–6 December 2024. Ahead of that online conclave, participants are reflecting on their experiences and to consider their ramifications for their daily practice. This feedback provides an opportunity to explore how participation has influenced participants’ thinking about climate change and health.
Learn more
Listen to the Teach to Reach podcast:
- in English on RSS , Apple, Spotify, YouTube or Amazon podcast services.
- En français sur les services de podcast par RSS, Apple, Spotify, YouTube ou Amazon.
Are you a health professional? Join the Geneva Learning Foundation’s peer learning programme on climate change and health:
- In English: from community to planet: Health professionals on the frontlines of climate change https://www.learning.foundation/climate
- En français: de la communauté à la planète: Professionnels de la santé sur le front du climat https://www.learning.foundation/climate-fr
Is your organisation interested in learning from health workers? Learn more about becoming a Teach to Reach partner.
This article was originally published on
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