COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down climate change efforts by various countries, according to the 2021 WHO health and climate change global survey report released on Monday, 8 November.

The report is based on a survey conducted every three years, and was published at the ongoing COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow. In the 2021 survey, 95 countries took part.

More than half of countries (52 percent) reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on their work to protect health from climate change, as the countries had to divert health personnel and resources. It still continues to threaten national health authorities' abilities to plan and prepare for climate-related health stresses and shocks.

Just one third of country respondents (33 percent) have taken the opportunity to include climate change and health considerations in their plans for recovery from COVID-19.

Countries' inability to protect health from climate change is most harmful for their most disadvantaged groups, including ethnic minorities, poor communities, migrants and displaced people, older people, and many women and children.

"The health arguments for increased climate action are very clear. For example, almost 80 percent of deaths caused by air pollution could be avoided if current air pollution levels were reduced to the WHO Air Quality guidelines," said Dr Neira.

Besides COVID, lack of funding (70 percent of countries) and insufficient human resource capacity (more than 30 percent of countries) are major barriers to progress, the WHO report said.

Moreover, only a small proportion of ministries of health in low-and lower-middle-income countries (28 percent) are currently receiving international funds to support climate change and health work. Access to international funds, including multilateral climate funds, needs to be substantially scaled up to reach the levels required to protect health from climate change, the report suggested.

The report also noted a potential missed opportunity to identify and optimise the health benefits of adaptation and mitigation efforts in other sectors, which could have fed into a clean, healthy recovery from COVID-19: structural and social determinants of health, such as education, equity, gender, urban planning, housing, energy and transportation systems was represented in fewer than half of the established multisectoral mechanisms.

(This story was published from a syndicated feed. Only the headline and picture has been edited by FIT)