October 14, 2024 — dir=”ltr”>As private sector and civil society representatives gather from around the world in Berlin for the 2024 World Health Summit, the IRC We are calling for your attention to what may be caused by this. The crisis is exacerbating public health challenges around the world.
The convergence of violent conflict and climate change is accelerating an alarming deterioration in public health in many of the world’s most vulnerable settings. The IRC identified 16 countries where the convergence is particularly pronounced. These countries account for 10.5% of the world’s total population, but a staggering 71.1% of those in need of humanitarian assistance.
At the same time, in the face of clear evidence that both conflict and climate disasters are negatively impacting public health globally, less than 5% of all climate adaptation finance is directed to the health sector; Only a quarter of the adequate share goes to vulnerable areas. . The situation is getting worse, and the necessary and limited resources devoted to the situation are not being spent to reach those who most urgently need it.
Examples of how conflict and climate change are directly causing public health catastrophes, and how IRC and others are responding, include:
This global surge in mpox infections is mainly concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, and as of October 1, 2024, the number of infected people has exceeded 30,000 and the death toll has reached 990. The spread of mpox is of particular concern in camps housing people displaced by conflict. The devastating floods in North Kivu and recent Burundi highlight how both conflict and climate disasters can exacerbate public health challenges. In response, the IRC has undertaken public awareness campaigns and distributed hygiene kits, and is currently fine-tuning an app that uses artificial intelligence to more easily screen and identify mpox patients. For more information, read IRC’s summary of this multi-country outbreak. In July of this year, poliovirus was detected in sewage in Gaza, and in August, the first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed in Gaza. This, combined with overcrowding in evacuation centres, means that Gaza is now particularly vulnerable to the rapid spread of the disease. The World Health Organization recently completed the first wave of polio vaccinations, inoculating some 560,000 children under the age of 10, but ongoing hostilities are hampering efforts to build on this progress. The IRC provides emergency medical and water sanitation services to Gaza and joins calls for both a cease-fire in the territory and a coordinated and sustained vaccination campaign, but the IRC has been unable to stop the spread of polio and other diseases in Gaza. Any meaningful progress against the Gaza Strip will require reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip. Health and water facilities. To achieve this, it is necessary to lift restrictions on the entry of critical equipment and supplies and permanently halt violent conflicts. Cholera is spreading at an alarming rate in northeastern Syria and parts of Yemen. These two conflict zones are particularly susceptible to conflict. climate crisis. In northeastern Syria, the main drivers of the outbreak are severe drought and reduced access to safe drinking water and sanitation systems due to both climate change and more than a decade of violent conflict. You can In Yemen, recent floods have displaced tens of thousands of people and destroyed key infrastructure such as sanitation and water treatment systems, raising the risk of further cholera outbreaks. In both locations, IRC is working to distribute essential medical supplies, hire community health workers for on-site containment and mitigation, and have plans in place to help rebuild essential water and sanitation systems. Masu. Unprecedented levels of hunger continue to ravage fragile environments around the world, with 45 million children under the age of five suffering from acute malnutrition at any given time. Up to 2 million children under the age of 5 die each year from malnutrition. Years of violent conflict and the effects of climate change, including severe droughts and floods, have combined to cause an alarming spike in child malnutrition in countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Somalia, and South Sudan. Masu. IRC’s Campaign Against Malnutrition is a new venture founded by IRC with one goal in mind: It’s about ensuring that no child dies of hunger, especially when there are scalable and proven solutions. Increased conflict and climate change are exacerbating health inequalities as more children miss out on life-saving vaccinations against diseases such as diphtheria and measles. In 2023, Sudan experienced the steepest decline in immunization coverage due to the civil war, with DTP3 (third-dose diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccination coverage dropping from 68% in 2022 to 51%. At the same time, climate change is increasing the risk of infectious diseases. Diseases that can be prevented with vaccines. The IRC-led Reach Every Child in Humanitarian Settings (REACH) project is the first directly funded by Gavi and provides humanitarian partners, starting in 2022 in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. It operates in 156 conflict-affected districts and cross-border communities where national immunization programs cannot function. Through humanitarian negotiations, REACH has improved access to hard-to-reach places from 16% in November 2022 to 96% by September 2024. To date, more than 650,000 children have received their first dose of DTP1, putting them on the path to full immunization. coverage.
The international community must prioritize the efficient and accurate use of resources to more effectively address the public health crises exacerbated by conflict and climate change around the world. Proven, scalable solutions such as childhood immunization programs, investments in infectious disease prevention and control, and support for local systems to treat malnutrition and food security all have strong potential moving forward. This is an example.
