As climate change threatens global health, frontline health workers provide a healing salve

The link between climate change and challenges to global health is undeniable—and the severity of these challenges are projected to escalate. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year as a consequence of malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress. This is largely because climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water and sufficient food and shelter.

The damaging effects of climate change also come with a huge price tag: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates between USD $2-4 billion per year by 2030. However, the cost is far more than just financial. A key finding in the 2018 Lancet Report highlighted that our inability to address climate change “threatens both human lives and the viability of the national health systems they depend on”.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, was definitive in his response to the Lancet Report on the pressing need for action: “The findings are clear, and the stakes could not be higher ... we cannot delay action on climate change. We cannot sleepwalk through this health emergency any longer.”

One clear solution to avoid a health emergency is to invest in and champion frontline heath workers, whose work is invaluable to the communities they serve. Frontline health workers are increasingly essential to combat disease, especially as climate change increases the pressure on infrastructure and makes those in remote areas harder to reach and treat. If we are to achieve the United Nations’ goal of universal health care for all people, we need 18 million more health workers by 2030.

As a judge for this year’s REACH Awards, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and commitment in the field of disease elimination, I have the privilege of learning about the amazing actions of frontline healthcare workers. They are at the vanguard of global health efforts and work within increasingly challenging operating conditions – often dealing with the detrimental effects of climate change, war, propaganda and inadequate infrastructure. 

One of the REACH Awards finalists is Olivia Ngou, the Founder and Executive Director of Impact Sante Afrique. Olivia is a skilled and passionate advocate for ending malaria in her native Cameroon and the rest of the world. Her advocacy efforts include engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, from students to Parliamentarians, to help them understand the importance of their role in ending malaria and galvanizing them to take action.

Climate change is increasing the risk of malaria and changing the location of where malaria is found according to analysis of the disease for the past two decades in South America and Africa. Malaria migrates higher as temperatures rise. If we are to prevent the transmission of such diseases and ultimately eliminate them, collaboration and education are key—and this is why Oliva’s work is so important.

Similarly, and equally worrying, climate change could increase Ebola rates over the next 50 years. UK and US researchers have created a predictive model that successfully reproduced past outbreaks of Ebola. In the worst-case warming scenarios, “spillovers” of Ebola – when the virus jumps from an animal to a human – will increase by nearly 15 per cent from today. That could expose new parts of western and central Africa to the disease.

Richard Kojan, Medical Advisor and President for The Alliance for International Medical Action, is another REACH Awards finalist. His work enables Ebola patients to be treated in their community through a portable bio-secure emergency care unit called CUBE. The CUBE enables Ebola patients to be closely monitored by medical staff in remote, low-resource areas. Such innovations are crucial as they enable people to stay in their community, and they help mitigate myths about Ebola and the widespread distrust and fear that surrounds the disease in areas like the DRC. 

Frontline healthcare workers offer hope in human form. How we support and champion the work that is done by those on the frontlines of global health, day in and day out, is a question we all need to consider, especially as the storm clouds of climate change gather.

For more amazing stories from the frontlines of global health, please click here.