KATHMANDU, APRIL 6

With climate change emerging as the single biggest threat facing humanity and nearly 13 million lives lost every year due to avoidable environmental causes, the World Health Organisation has called for prioritising equitable health and accelerating steps to protect ecological systems and health to build healthy societies.

'Climate change is putting the health, well-being, and sustainable development of billions of people across the South-East Asia Region and the world at risk. It imperils decades of progress in the reduction of disease-related morbidity and mortality. We must act now to keep humans and our planet healthy,' said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, New Delhi-based WHO South-East Asia Region, in a press release.

Climate change is expected to cause 250,000 additional deaths annually between 2030 and 2050. The WHO has urged governments and people to take measures to protect 'Our planet, our health,' the theme of World Health Day, 2022, which is being observed tomorrow. The WHO South-East Asia Region, including Nepal, home to more than two billion people, is highly vulnerable to climate change and has the highest estimated number of deaths due to climate change. According to the WHO, intense rainfall, frequent floods, forest fires and droughts triggered by climate change are already impacting health and livelihood and causing huge suffering, mental illness, deaths and displacement, globally and in the region.

Rising temperatures are leading to the outbreak of infectious disease, heat strokes, trauma and even death. Crop failure linked to climate change is driving malnutrition and undernutrition.

'We have a once-ina-century opportunity to drive transformative, lasting change. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that if decision-making is transparent, evidence-based and inclusive, people will support bold and far-reaching policies that protect their health, families and livelihoods,' said the regional director.

'We are at a pivotal moment.

The decisions and actions we take now can either escalate damage to the ecological systems that sustain human health and livelihoods, or can promote a healthier, fairer, and greener world. Together we must confront the climate crisis, protect health for all and ensure a fairer, healthier, and greener future for generations to come,' she said.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 7, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.