Around the world, more than 2 billion people lack access to safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services, with conflicts and climate change exacerbating the issue.
Unsafe and insufficient WASH facilities, especially in rural and remote areas, can lead to increased health complications fo...r older people, persons with disabilities and children. They also reinforce cycles of poverty, inequality and deprivation – particularly for women, children and marginalized groups, who are disproportionately impacted by a lack of equitable access to water and sanitation.
Launched on World Water Day, the guidelines address the knowledge gap on ways to practically implement inclusive approaches to WASH infrastructure development, particularly in developing countries and fragile contexts.
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In 21st century capitalism, financial markets reign supreme. The elevation of investing, trading, and speculating as a way of making profit has shifted economic power towards institutional investors and enhanced the power of financial capital. Financialisation has introduced uncertainty in the commi...tment to public provision of goods and services. The behaviours of corporations focus more on profit for shareholders and senior executives to the detriment of wages, worker protections, livelihoods, and impact on prices and the environment. The practices of this financial system
pose major challenges to public health and planetary health equity through the influence on social inequality, climate change, and health outcomes. The aim of this Viewpoint is to expand the understanding of the commercial determinants of health to explicitly include the financial system and present key plausible pathways via which the financialisation of advanced economies influences public health and planetary health equity.
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Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease with a broad global distribution and an increasing number of recorded cases worldwide. However, it is still one of the world's most neglected diseases. Over the last decades, the disease has been found to expand geographically with a global increase of cases o...f visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis increasing the public health problems associated with the disease epidemics. The reported range expansion of the diseases has been associated with range expansions of vector populations in response to climate change. Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The transmission can either be zoonotic and/or anthroponotic through the bite of an infected female phlebotomine sandfly. In Eurasia and Africa, all vector-competent sandfly species belong to the genus Phlebotomus. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common form of leishmaniasis. In the ‘old world’, it is caused by five currently recognized Leishmania species: L. major, L. tropica and L. aethiopica (being main causative parasites) as well as L. infantum and L. donovani. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), another common and more severe form of leishmaniasis, is only associated with the Leishmania species L. infantum and L. donovani. The specific Leishmania species cause different clinical symptoms in humans.
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Our aim is to review current asthma epidemiology, achievements from the last 10 years, and persistent challenges of asthma man- agement and control in low-middle income countries (LMICs). Despite global efforts, asthma continues to be an important public health problem worldwide, particularly in poo...rly resourced settings. Several epidemiological studies in the last decades have shown significant variability in the prevalence of asthma globally, but generally a marked increase in LMICs resulting in significant mor- bidity and mortality. Poverty, air pollution, climate change, exposure to indoor allergens, urbanization and diet are some of the factors that contribute to inadequate control and poor outcomes in developing countries. Although asthma guidelines have been developed to raise awareness and improve asthma diagnosis and treatment, problems with underdiagnosis and undertreatment are still common. In addition, important social, financial, cultural and healthcare barriers are common obstacles in LMICs in achieving control. Given the high burden of asthma in these countries, adaptation and implementation of national asthma guidelines tailored to local needs should be a public health priority. Governmental commitment, education, better health system infrastructure, access to care and effective asthma medications are the cornerstone of achieving success.
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Lancet Planet Health 2021; 5: e654–58
Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
English Analysis on World and 3 other countries about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Drought, Flood and more; published on 22 Oct 2021 by Action Against Hunger
The NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) conducts research to improve observations, understanding, modeling and predictions of weather, water and climate extremes, and their related impacts.
Lancet 2021; 398: Series: Heat and Health
Hot weather and heat extremes harm human health, with poverty, ageing, and chronic illnesses as aggravating factors. As the global community contends with even hotter weather in a changing climate, there is a pressing need to better understand the most eff...ective prevention and response measures, particularly in low-resource settings. In this two-paper series, the physiological, social, and environmental factors that contribute to individual heat vulnerability, and the megatrends affecting future heat-related morbidity and mortality at the population level, are comprehensively reviewed. Solutions to address the physiological heat strain that underlies the negative health effects of heat extremes and hot weather, which can be employed across a range of settings at individual, building, and landscape scales, are presented.
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The World Drug Report 2022 is aimed not only at fostering greater international cooperation to counter the impact of the world drug problem on health, governance and security, but also, with its special insights, at assisting Member States in anticipating and address-ing threats from drug markets an...d mitigating their consequences.
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ONLINE COURSES are free and self-paced courses, accessible 24/7 for people within and outside CARE.
LEARNING JOURNEYS are subscription-based interactive online trainings that combine online courses, peer to peer exchanges and coaching.
TRAINER PACKS for trainers and facilitators containing editab...le training materials on resilience and climate change and facilitation tips.
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Today’s children, and their children, are the ones who will live with the consequences of climate change.
This Summary for Policymakers (SPM) presents key findings of the Working Group I (WGI) contribution to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on the physical science basis of climate change. The report builds upon the 2013 Working Group I contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5...) and the 2018–2019 IPCC Special Reports of the AR6 cycle and
incorporates subsequent new evidence from climate science
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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC prepares comprehensive Assessment Reports about the state of scientific, technical and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its impacts and future risk...s, and options for reducing the rate at which climate change is taking place. It also produces Special Reports on topics agreed to by its member governments, as well as Methodology Reports that provide guidelines for the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories.
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From February 22-23, 2023, the Wellcome Trust and the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) brought together researchers, decision makers, and public health implementers to participate in a virtual workshop focused on cholera and climate. Day 1 involved a technical workshop to identify key re...search themes as well as the challenges, gaps, and opportunities in using climate information for cholera decision making. Day 2 was an open forum focused on information-sharing and updates from countries and partners, including a call for stronger research and data on the connection between climate and cholera.
The overarching discussion outlined the complex relationship between climate and cholera. Materials from the event – including a recording of the Day 2 open forum, key findings/messages, and a final event report – can be accessed below
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Extreme heat events (EHEs) are a leading cause of weather-related injury and death in the United States, and under a changing climate, these meteorological episodes are predicted to increase in both frequency and intensity. Prolonged heat exposure from EHEs places an increased strain on the heart an...d may lead to heat-related illness if the cardiovascular system fails to properly thermoregulate internal body temperature. Every individual is susceptible to heat-related illness, however, those with reduced cardiovascular function and pre-existing cardiovascular diseases are at a greater risk for morbidity and mortality during EHEs. This document gives an overview of our current understanding of heat exposure and its impact on cardiovascular health outcomes, an overview of the medications that may exacerbate heat-related cardiovascular illness, and asummary of the interaction between extreme heat and air pollutants, and their collective impact on cardiovascular health. Additionally, this document summarizes epidemiologic evidence and identifies gaps in the extant peer-reviewed literature on the effectiveness of strategies and interventions to protect against heat-related cardiovascular disease and death. This information is intended to aid health departments and other health professionals in understanding and responding to the impacts of heat exposure on cardiovascular health.
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Agriculture is highly exposed to climate change, as farming activities directly depend on climatic conditions. Agriculture also contributes to climate change through the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Two powerful greenhouse gases are by-products of agricultural activity:
Methan...e (CH4) – from livestock digestion processes and stored animal manure;
Nitrous oxide (N2O) – from organic and mineral nitrogen fertilisers.
However, agriculture can also contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and by sequestering carbon while maintaining food production.
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Global Knowledge for Climate and Public Health. Informing action to protect populations from the health risks of climate change. It is in response to growing calls for actionable information to protect people from the health risks of climate change and other environmental hazards.
Climate and hea...lth are inextricably linked. Climate change, extreme weather events and environmental degradation have fundamental impact on human health and well-being. More people than ever before are exposed to increased climate-related health risks, from poor water and air quality to infectious diseases and heat stress.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) projects a global shortfall of 18 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Contributing to the global deficit are chronic under-investment in education and training of health workers; workforce migration; an aging health wo...rkforce; rapid increases in chronic diseases; and inability to track existing human resources using health information systems. Health care worker shortages are compounded by the increased portability and virulence of infections. Rapid population growth, climate change, deforestation, international travel, migration, poverty, and social inequality have dramatically increased the risk of pandemics and highlighted the need for skilled health workforce to effectively respond to emerging health threats. This is evident now more than ever as COVID-19 exacerbates health inequity and barriers to access, and further strains the already fragile health systems in many countries.
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Promoting health and preventing disease is a critical component of the effort required to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). to date, efforts to achieve UHC have focused mostly on strengthening health systems and their capacities to provide curative care. However, experience from the COVID-19 ...pandemic has reaffirmed the need for resilient health systems, emphasizing primary health care, including preventive and promotive health and well-being.
Emerging from the eye of the storm as the global health lead agency during the pandemic, WHO is equipped with the required insights and actions for a holistic approach to “building back fairer and better” after COVID-19.
The Healthier Populations (UHP) Cluster in the African Region is designed to support Pillar 3 of WHO’s 13th Global Programme of Work (GPW13) which aims to make 1 billion people healthier by reducing health inequities, preventing diseases and injuries, addressing health determinants, and promoting partnerships for collaborative actions amongst all stakeholders.
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