A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

The threat climate change poses to health, equity, and development has been rigorously documented. However, in an era marked by economic crisis, regional conflicts, natural disasters and growing disparities between rich and poor, the joint global actions required to address climate change have been vigorously debated – and critical decisions postponed. This document, part of WHO’s Health in the Green Economy series, describes how many climate change measures can be “win-wins” for people and the planet. These policies yield large, immediate public health benefits while reducing the upward trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions. Many of these policies can improve the health and equity of people in poor countries and assist developing countries in adapting to climate change that is already occurring, as evidenced by more extreme storms, flooding, drought and heatwaves. WHO’s Department of Public Health and Environment launched the Health in the Green Economy initiative in 2010 to review potential health and equity “co-benefits” of proposed climate change measures – as well as relevant risks. This review examines mitigation strategies discussed in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which constitutes the most broad-based global review of mitigation options by scientific experts

Why a 4°C warmer world must be avoided

New and updated information. Adverse health effects of hot weather and heat-waves are largely preventable. Prevention requires a portfolio of actions at different levels:from health system preparedness, coordinated with meteorological early warning systems, to timely public and medical advice andimprovements to housing and urban planning. This publication offers detailed information for various target audiences, and on medicaladvice and treatment practice

CIPH Curriculum for Best Practices. Putting Principles to Work

There is a broad consensus nowadays that the Earth is warming up as a result of greenhouse gas emissions caused by anthropogenic activities. It is also clear that current trends in the fields of energy, development and population growth will lead to continuous and ever more dramatic climate change. This is bound to affect the fundamental prerequisites for maintaining good health: clean air and water, sufficient food and adequate housing. The planet will warm up gradually, but the consequences of the extreme weather conditions such as frequent storms, floods, droughts and heat-waves will have sudden onset and acute repercussions. It is widely accepted that climate change will have an impact on the spread of infectious diseases in Europe, which is likely to bring about new public health risks in the majority of cases. Transmission of infectious diseases depends on a number of factors, including climate and environmental elements. Foodborne and waterborne diseases, for instance, are associated with high temperatures. Disease-transmitting vectors (e.g. mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks) are highly sensitive to climate conditions, including temperature and humidity; their geographical distribution will widen as climate conditions change, potentially allowing them to spread into regions where they are not currently able to live. The primary purpose of this manual on climate change and infectious diseases is to raise the awareness and the level of knowledge of health workers at national, regional and local levels in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the health risks associated with climate change and infectious diseases. This manual was devel- oped as part of the WHO Regional Office for Europe project, Protecting health from climate change: a seven–country initiative, implemented with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

Climate change is a verified, global phenomenon, but its consequences will not be evenly distributed. Developing countries and small island nations will be the most affected. Countries will experience more frequent extreme weather events and resulting changes in water quality and availability, increased contamination of air, and food security problems. Health impact due to climate change include diarrhoeal diseases, vector-borne diseases, heat stress, malnutrition, deaths and injuries due to extreme weather events and mental stress

Training Workshop