New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) Philanthropic organisations Rockefeller Foundation and Wellcome have committed to mobilising USD 11.5 million to help low and middle-income countries tackle rising health risks from climate change.
The money will support the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) joint Climate and Health Programme for improving early warning systems, weather-based disease forecasts and other climate-informed health tools in vulnerable nations.
The joint investment was announced on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
Climate change is putting human survival at risk, causing hunger, water shortages, disease and deaths. It is also hurting economies, forcing people to migrate and creating instability.
Extreme heat alone kills around 5 lakh people every year and led to an estimated USD 835 billion in lost income in 2023.
Advancing heat-warning systems in 57 countries alone could save nearly one lakh lives per year, but today only 23 per cent of national health authorities currently use climate and meteorological data in their health planning.
The investment will help set up health-meteorological units in seven countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia. It also aims to build stronger cooperation between health ministries and weather agencies in at least 80 countries.
"This partnership and initiative represent a major step forward. It will accelerate the use of tailored climate services to address some of the most urgent health challenges of our time, from heat-related illness to the spread of infectious diseases.
"By strengthening early warning systems, digital tools, technical support and training, we can equip governments and health systems to effectively use climate information and services to save lives," said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO.
"After a 'decade of deadly heat', it is clear that public health's status quo is not going to cut it. To save and improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people, we have to reimagine how we meet our mission today and invest in novel solutions both providers and patients need today," said Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President of Health at The Rockefeller Foundation.
Alan Dangour, Director of Climate and Health at Wellcome, said people's health must be at the core of climate action.
The changing climate is harming diets, and air quality, increasing heat stress, affecting mental health and raising the risk of food- and water-borne infections as well as diseases spread by insects like ticks and mosquitoes, he said.