Climate and Health in Africa: Ten Years On
 
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During the past decade, climate associated risk has been recognized as a potential constraint to achieving development targets, including the MDGs. While recent focus on climate change has made these concerns more pressing, there has been a tendency to overlook the opportunities to use climate and environmental information to improve sustainable management of climate sensitive sectors - including health.

In 1999, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) led a collaborative training course in Bamako, Mali on Climate Prediction and Diseases/Health in Africa. Convened by the Faculté de Médecine, de Pharmacie et d' Odonto-Stomatologie and by the Direction Nationale de la Météorologie du Mali, it was one of the first interdisciplinary workshops of its kind to address the challenges and opportunities around climate and health in Africa. The course was also co-sponsored by the African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development, the World Meteorological Organization, the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement and the US National Institutes of Health.


A decade on: What are the lessons, What are the next steps, Where do we need to be by 2020?

Since the initial Bamako workshop, awareness around the risks of climate has risen considerably and many significant lessons have been learned through many initiatives and many partnerships. The Ethiopian Climate and Health Working Group, along with a steering committee comprised of the African Climate Policy Center, WHO, UNDP, the UK Met Office, Exeter University and the IRI, proposes the organization of a second Pan-African Climate and Health workshop to be held in Addis, April 4-6, 2011.

The “10 Years On” workshop will be a valuable opportunity for various groups to discuss the lessons and results of initiatives over the past decade and will serve as an opportunity to identify changing perspectives and priority issues. Most importantly, it will provide an opportunity to draft the “Road Map” for next steps and to outline targeted new initiatives required for the next 10 years moving forward.

The steering committee invites you to participate in the workshop to present, debate and evaluate the lessons learned and to elaborate on newly emerging perspectives and opportunities in relation to managing climate and health risks in Africa. Priority climate-sensitive health issues that affect pastoral, agrarian and urban populations will be addressed, for example:

  • Dry conditions: respiratory diseases - aggravated by drought and dust, e.g. bacterial meningitis.
  • Wet conditions: vector-borne diseases including zoonoses- e.g. malaria/RVF.
  • Heat stress: of considerable concern for rapidly urbanizing populations.
  • Droughts/floods: impacts on under-nutrition, water, sanitation and diarrheal diseases, e.g. cholera.

  • Objective: To highlight lessons learned networks and capacity built since the 1999 Bamako workshop on Climate and Health in Africa - identify emerging risks and opportunities.
  • Target Date: April 4-6, 2011.
  • Venue: UNECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
  • Participants: Previous participants, researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, donors and the media.
  • Expected Outputs: Recommendations and reporting for key policy processes and programmes.