The Nigerian Government and stakeholders in Abuja on Saturday developed a policy document to mitigate the impact of climate change on healthcare delivery in the country.
Dr. Chukwuma Anyaike, Director of Public Health, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said this during a two-day National Stakeholders Validation Workshop on Nigeria’s Climate Change Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment report.
Anyaike explained that there had been an upsurge in flooding with attendant health complications in the country.
“For instance, the country has witnessed cases of cholera. In some places where mosquitoes do not typically breed, the effect of climate change has made it warmer for the vectors to breed in such places, which increases the burden of malaria. There is also the case of flooding, which increases the breeding sites of lymphatic filariasis,” he said.
According to him, of the 774 Local Government Areas visited, 583 of them have a high burden of lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis.
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The director said that the flooding had washed away farms and destroyed property in many places. He noted that 40 percent of complications from flooding come from drowning.
“There are many issues related to climate change and its impact on health, so we are here to develop a document to address the health issues caused by it. First, we need to find out the vulnerability and the impact on health.
“We have all the relevant stakeholders here to create an implementable document. This is because the country used to produce documents that were not implemented, possibly because we did not involve stakeholders,” he said.
Anyaike said that the health system was built on the principle of primary healthcare and there was a need to focus on this level.
“We will create documents that will support the health minister in addressing health issues in the country,” he said.
Also, Dr. Walter Mulombo, Country Representative to Nigeria, World Health Organisation (WHO), said that the health sector was becoming highly vulnerable to climate change.
Mulombo, who was represented by Dr. Edwin Edeh, National Technical Officer, Public Health and Environment, WHO, said that the country was facing increasing effects of flooding.
Mulombo said he had witnessed cholera cases in some states and noted that most health facilities were affected by climatic issues.
“So, with such issues of concern, the health sector needs to be proactive in taking certain measures. We need to identify the challenges and gaps and determine how the sector can respond to climate crises. An assessment has been conducted with partners to identify priority interventions that can address climate problems in the health sector,” he said.
According to him, the intervention will help protect Nigerians from health emergencies and ensure adequate financing to support climate-related issues in the health system. Mulombo said that Nigeria was the first country to be driving the vulnerability assessment report.
Mr. Rob Wood, Managing Director, International LTD Consultant, Halcyon, said they were hired with support from the United Kingdom government to help the Ministry of Health carry out Nigeria’s first climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment report.
Wood said the project started in January and that data were collected from all six geopolitical zones. He mentioned that they spoke with more than 300 stakeholders and conducted extensive analysis.
“We are looking at the current issues and what will be the future risks to the health sector. Nigerians’ health regarding climate changes needs validation. So, we are here to validate the report, which will be launched in a few weeks’ time,” Wood said.
