The World Health Organisation, prominent global health figures, medical doctors, nurses, medical students and public health federations, have joined together to warn that if the world cannot agree on major emission reductions, it will be signing death warrants for humanity in the years ahead. The various health leaders speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday warned against health consequences, insisting that health should be incorporated in the negotiations of climate change at COP 17. In an earlier meeting dubbed the First Global Climate and Health Summit held at the Tropicana Hotel in Durban, the health experts produced a declaration asserting that a fair, binding, and ambitious climate agreement will result in significant health benefits, saving lives and money. The health practitioners said that if there is no immediate intervention; temperatures will rise above the two degrees Celsius limit above pre-industrial levels that scientists warned could be a tipping point for runaway global warming. This could endanger the health of billions of human beings as the rate of bacterial reproduction increased. Dr. Maria Neira, head of the WHO delegation at COP 17 said they want health issues to be included in the mitigation policy of COP 17. “We need urgent actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to stop the escalating health risks”. She added that there is a need for genuine support for a more resilient climate and sustainable development to gain the health benefits of a green economy. Failure to act she said, would put the life of humanity at an unacceptable risk. Dr. Rajen Naidoo of the Nelson R. Mandela Medical School in Durban, also a speaker at the press briefing, said that it is difficult dealing with sicknesses causedd by climate change while they are still dealing with challenges presented by HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. “We need to develop ways to address these issues which are at great risk”. He said programmes of mitigation and adaptation at COP 17 must include health.
– By Effa Tambenkongho, ReportingDNA
