Salako: Nigeria Needs Climate-Resilient Health Systems

According to Minister of State for Environment, Dr.Iziaq Kunle Salako, Nigeria needs to strengthen its health system and workforce as a response to the growing challenges posed by climate change.

The minister stated this at the Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the National Association of Resident Doctors held in Ogun State recently.

Salako who presented a paper with the title, “Building a Resilient Health Workforce: Embracing Climate-centric Innovations, stated that the climate change is posing an existential threat to humanity and expressed the need for the nation’s health sector to the prepared to tackle the challenges.

“Today, our world including our country Nigeria is faced with more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as severe and widespread flooding, large storms, recording breaking heat waves, long droughts, severe wildfire, coastal erosion, hurricanes and so on.

“In 2024, these weather extremes appear to be occurring across the world at a level never seen before with many climate scientists saying they can not remember ever seeing such a level of climate disasters and human suffering.

“This prevailing trajectory of climate change is posing an existential threat to humanity, sustainable development, and planetary health, affecting the vulnerable groups disproportionately.

“The challenges posed to the health system and workforce by climate change require the strengthening of the system to mitigate and adapt,” he said.

The minister noted that “apart from shifting disease patterns with an increase incidence of respiratory diseases, heat-related illnesses, heart diseases and the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria, Lyme, and dengue, water and food-related illnesses like cholera, gastroenteritis, campylobacter, leptospirosis and salmonellosis, climate change is also directly causing injuries and deaths and has been linked to increases in violent crime and overall poor mental health (USEPA, 2024)”.

While highlighting the huge danger of climate change to the health of people in Nigeria, the minister stated that according to the WHO, about 400 million people in Nigeria are projected to be at risk of malaria by 2070 due to climate change.

“Also, diarrhoea disease in children under 15 attributable to climate change is projected to be almost 10 percent by 2030 and heat-related deaths in the elderly 65 years and above is projected to increase to about 80 per 100,000 annually by 2080 compared to the baseline of 3 as at 1990,” he said.

The minister stated that to strengthen the resilience of the country’s health care system, the nation must adopt climate-centric innovations and climate-proof the system.

“Nigeria recognises the challenges posed by climate change to public health, the health system and the health workforce and is putting measures in place for mitigation and adaptation.

“Consequently, the Nigerian Government has started incorporating climate change considerations into various health policies and plans.

“This includes linking health outcomes to climate resilience in strategic documents like the National Health Policy and National Health Sector Strategic Plan, establishing surveillance systems to monitor climate-sensitive health issues, such as vector-borne diseases which will help to identify and respond to outbreaks more effectively, promoting policies and frameworks focused on disaster risk reduction including health emergency preparedness and prioritizing the importance of addressing health impacts arising from climate-related disasters,” he said.

The minister therefore appealed to the resident doctors to remain in the country and join hands in building the health sector to tackle the climate -change related illnesses, describing the doctors as the “lubricants that keep the engine of specialised medical services running in our country”, Salako assured them that the Tinubu-led administration is working round the clock to improve the sector.