Dakar — More than 80 health and climate change experts, partners and civil society representatives today agreed on a five-year strategic plan for the African region to support countries build resilient and sustainable health system and make health an integral part of negotiations on climate-change adaptation and mitigation. Meeting in Senegal from 24 to 26 September 2024 for the Fifth Clim-HEALTH Africa meeting. The experts also set in motion discussions and collaborations aimed at driving bold climate actions to address Africa’s climate-induced health challenges. Clim-HEALTH Africa is a consortium for Climate and Health bringing together African technical institutions and international partners to guide and strengthen the public health resilience of African countries and communities to climate change. The network has been working with partners to help predict, prevent, and manage acute public health effects of climate change in Africa through evidence-based climate-informed planning, capacity building and expert knowledge sharing. African countries are experiencing increasing climate-linked emergencies. In 2023 alone, extreme weather events killed more than 15 000 people, with droughts affecting more than 88 million people across six African countries, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data. However, only 22 countries in the region have national health adaptation plans and less than 20% of the countries have health mentioned in their nationally determined contributions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “Our region is home to six countries of the top ten most disaster affected countries in the world, with heatwaves, floods, cyclones and wildfires affecting health and livelihoods of millions of people,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. The finalization of a Clim-HEALTH Africa strategic work plan comes at a time when health is receiving increasing attention in the global discourse on climate change. The plan marks an important step in the continent’s climate change advocacy drive, […]