The World Health Organization’s Copenhagen pitch on climate change

As talks came to an end in Copenhagen, the World Health Organization tried to explain that climate change is about more than the environment -- it's a human health concern too.

As WHO scientist Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum said on the News Hour on Thursday, "Three and a half million die from under-nutrition. That's entirely dependent on agricultural production. And all of those deaths occur in the parts of the world that are going to be most affected by climate change."

Malaria is another heat-sensitive global health threat, which is expected to worsen with changing weather patterns. But, on the bright side, the World Health Organization reported this week that malaria-fighting funds, which went from $300 million in 2003 to $1.7 billion this year, are paying off. In a third of the 108 "malarious" countries, reports of sickness dropped by more than half since 2000.

And the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation just awarded researchers nearly $10 million to create a malaria vaccine. 

However, in case you're visiting a "malarious" country any time soon, here's some tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on keeping clear of the mosquito-borne bug.

-- Amina Khan

Comments

[Jonny Currie]

In speaking to a range of government delegations at Copenhagen so far, it seems the health message is seen as ‘implicit’ in a treaty text which so far has failed to adequately chart a road to the planet’s preservation. If we don’t act, the future health of millions around the world is at stake. Yet the earlier we do address our emissions, the quicker and greater our impacts on health in the global South and North can be.

If we can establish the voice of the health community throughout the coming months, there remains a strong chance a final framework can be agreed upon which both maintains a habitable planet for society, whilst narrowing the health gap between global rich and poor.