By Michael Gwarisa
Although Africa contributes less than 4% of global carbon dioxide emissions, it faces some of the harshest impacts of climate change on health and the environment, leaders at the inaugural Climate and Health Africa Conference (CHAC2024) have stated.
Public health data shows that Africa is experiencing numerous climate-linked health hazards more than other regions in the world. This largely has to do with an already weakened health system and the absence of reliable early warning systems amongst a host of other factors.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 16 African countries have reported mpox cases in the last six weeks and are considered to have an active, ongoing outbreak. Rwanda is experiencing a Marburg virus outbreak while South Sudan is the latest to record a Cholera Outbreak.
Officiating at the three-day Climate and Health Conference in Africa in Harare, held under the theme Cultivating Resilience in Health Towards Unified Equitable Strategies for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation in Africa, Zimbabwe President Emerson Mnangagwa said Africa needs to claim her rightful place in the Climate Change discourse.
Our beloved continent, Africa, is enduring the worst effects of global warming, the land that nourished us for millennia, has now been ravaged by increasingly severe heat, drought, floods, and cyclones. Costing African economies between three and five percent of our GDP. Despite being among the least responsible for emissions causing climate disturbance, Africa bears both the brunt and the cost of climate change,” said President Mnangagwa.
President Mnangagwa added that the harsh reality of climate change has resulted in unending droughts, natural disasters, and the re-emergence of diseases.
“Diseases we thought were under control, which include malaria, cholera, and malaria infections, are now distributed. As African nations, we must reach the forefront of protecting our people, our flora, and the fauna, while advancing our development aspirations and values as a people. More sustainable and prosperous in Africa, where no one will commit suicide. We must build economically resilient health systems that can adapt to and shield health workers and assistance from hazards. Ladies and gentlemen, comrades and their friends.”
He said the outcomes from the Climate and Health Conference must play a crucial role in shaping Africa’s future and the perception of climate and health together and aligning initiatives being made by other African governments and throughout the world.
Dr Lul Riek, the Regional Director of, the Southern Africa Regional Coordinating Center in the Africa Centre for Diseases Control (Africa CDC) said the time for action against climate and health calamities in Africa was now.
“We all here agree that the time for denial and time for complacency and the time no actions are over. Climate change is real, it is happening now and it demands action with the sense of urgency that it deserves. Unfortunately, Climate change is not just a theory. It is our harsh reality. This generation has experienced and suffered the devastating impact of Climate Change and we are also enduring its consequences every day of our lives,” said Dr Riek.
He added that Africa was also feeling the creeping effects of climate change across communities and the health systems yet it has been projected to even get worse if nothing is done. Africa is also experiencing rising temperatures, food insecurity, and displacement of populations due to climate linked challenges. Africa CDC says is committed to joining the efforts of the government of Zimbabwe in driving the climate and health security agenda.
Representing the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director, Dr Matsidio Moeti, WHO Director Healthier Populations Cluster, WHO Regional Office for Africa Dr Adelheid Onyango said, “..the climate crisis threatens to undo the last 50 years of Africa’s progress in development health and poverty reduction. The WHO Regional Office is helping to build momentum towards our sector’s stronger leadership in placing health at the heart of climate negotiation because health is the human face of climate change.”
She added that Africa needs urgent action to build resilience and reduce the vulnerability of Africa’s health systems in order to safeguard the health and well-being of African people. Key priority actions according to Dr Onyango include translating international agreements on climate change and health into national political, strategies and action.
“There is also a need to build scientific evidence on climate and health and mobilise resources to implement the holistic and coordinated solution in health systems and also in sectors where the determinants of health sit. These include water, sanitation, food and agriculture, infrastructure, urban planning and settlements, energy, transport, commerce, and industry, the list is very long.”
WHO has worked on several policy and research initiatives collaborating with member’s states and partners. In 2008, 52 African member states signed the Libreville Declaration consisting of 11 priority actions to reinforce multi-sectorial work on health and the environment in Africa. In September 2011, the 62nd WHO Regional Committee for Africa adopted the Framework for Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change and aimed to facilitate country action to minimize the advanced effects of climate change on public health.
In 2021, the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change promoted a health program for the first time in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) negotiations.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has joined the WHO Alliance for the Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATCH) which is a WHO mechanism established in 2022 to support the delivery of COP26 health commitments. Zimbabwe becomes the 29th African Region state to join the ATCH and COP26.
Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora applauded Zimbabwe for its steps to address climate-linked health challenges.
“Zimbabwe also joined the WHO Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health, and this was done in 2024. A global platform that brings together countries committed to integrating climate resilience into their health systems. This alliance will further bolster our ability to implement an ambitious climate response,” said Dr Mombeshora.
