Tag: Climate Change

One Health and Climate: Dr. Onyango Speaks On Transforming Africa’s Health Resilience

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In 2024, African health ministers adopted a 10-year framework to build climate-resilient and sustainable health systems across the continent. This framework aims to guide World Health Organization (WHO) African region member states in translating global climate and health initiatives into concrete, actionable steps at the country level. For over a decade, the WHO has collaborated with member states and partners on policies and research initiatives to strengthen multisectoral efforts on health and environmental issues in Africa. These initiatives focus on creating strategies and frameworks that address the…

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Amref Puts A Spotlight On Widening Climate Change Induced Health Inequalities in Africa

Michael Gwarisa

“As dire as the situation is, financing for climate adaptation is only a drop in the ocean of what is needed. This scenario has been, and continues to be the reason why Africa is one of the most vulnerable continent.” By Michael Gwarisa As the world commemorates World Health Day, governments around the world are seized with addressing climate change challenges, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) data estimating that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will likely cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year, from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhoea…

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UNICEF Zimbabwe launches campaign on children and climate change

Kuda Pembere

By Staff Reporter UNICEF Zimbabwe has launched a communication campaign which seeks to involve children’s participation in climate change issues which are increasingly affecting them. The campaign also comes at a time when Zimbabwe is enduring an El-Nino induced drought. “The Climate Change Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis. Climate change is impacting the lives of children worldwide, also in Zimbabwe. “It creates scarcity in access to safe water and food, impacts on the health of children, increases children’s vulnerability to exploitation and abuse, and jeopardises their well-being, even threatening…

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Fragile Health Systems Expose Africa To Untold Climate Change Disasters Says AMREF

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa For a long time, discourse on climate change has revolved around the effects of Climate Change on the environment in particular air pollution, an issue most prevalent in the Global North. Very little focus was being given to the impact of climate change on the health and well-being of the human population. However, for the first time in many years, African health Ministers and their counterparts from around the world converged in Dubai for the COP28 where they delivered a strong message regarding the impact climate change…

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How Climate Change is Fueling a Mental Health Crisis in Urban Zimbabwe

Taurai Nyandoro

By Taurai Nyandoro If there are any global issues that have garnered and evoked increased attention in the past few years, it has to be climate change and mental health. A growing body of evidence points to the connection between climate change and mental health. In fact, there is a link between climate change and mental disorders, including fear, anxiety, stress, insomnia, depression, lost self-efficacy, mood disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Urban residents in Zimbabwe are not immune to the impacts of droughts, floods, and heatwaves. Unsurprisingly, these changes…

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Climate Actions need to be Child-Centered

Michael Gwarisa

Ahead of the COP27, Government of Zimbabwe and UNICEF hosted a high-level dialogue to take stock of the climate change challenges and concluded with a strong call for children to be at the heart of climate change strategies and actions. Harare, 31 October 2022 – Ahead of the (27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC) COP27, which will be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), the Ministry of Environment, Tourism, Climate & Hospitality Industry and UNICEF…

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Zim Smallholder Farmers Grow Small Grain Crops To Beat Climate Change

Patricia Mashiri

IN the midst of Climate change induced effects such as droughts and other natural disasters, small scale farmers in Zimbabwe’s communal lands are slowly replacing maize with small grains as they seek to adapt to the ever changing environment, a top researcher has said. By Patricia Mashiri A case study of rural Mbire which was done to evaluate the nutritional and psychological health impacts showed that there was a shift from maize farming in areas that receive below normal rainfall to drought tolerant crops such as  sorghum, millet and Rapokko.…

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Why mental health is a priority for action on climate change

Michael Gwarisa

Climate change poses serious risks to mental health and well-being, concludes a new WHO policy brief, launched today at the Stockholm+50 conference. The Organization is therefore urging countries to include mental health support in their response to the climate crisis, citing examples where a few pioneering countries have done this effectively. The findings concur with a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in February this year. The IPPC revealed that rapidly increasing climate change poses a rising threat to mental health and psychosocial well-being; from emotional distress…

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