About this Research Topic

Background

Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, and health professionals worldwide are responding to the health harms caused by this unfolding crisis. The phenomenon poses many threats to the health and well-being of humanity, from increasing the risk of extreme heat events and heavy storms to increasing the risk of asthma attacks and changing the spread of certain diseases. Over the last few years, the world has been witnessing rising temperatures and extreme weather events that are significantly affecting human health across the world.

Climate change is threatening the social and environmental determinants of health and destroying livelihoods and social protection assets. This is deepening existing socio-economic inequities, with some bearing the worst brunt of the crisis more than others. While no one is safe from the climate change risks, the people whose health is being harmed first and worst by the climate crisis are those who contribute least to its causes, and who are least able to protect themselves against it. These are people in low-income and disadvantaged countries and communities.

The climate crisis is undoing the last 50 years of progress in development, global health, and poverty reduction, and further widening existing health inequalities between and within populations. It severely jeopardizes the realization of universal health coverage (UHC), sustainable development goals (SGDs), and UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets in various ways. Climate disasters are also resulting in an increased risk of gender-based violence, migration, decreased access to maternal and child healthcare, HIV and sexual and reproductive health rights services (SRHR); increase in child marriages, early and unintended pregnancies; and interrupted access to comprehensive health services, and a threat to the quality of life and dignity.

Climate change is exacerbating current and new public health challenges through a variety of pathways. However, to date, a health perspective on the climate change, health, and environmental crisis discourse has been one of the weakest even though this is changing. Significant knowledge and information gaps are preventing well-supported, sharing of best policy practices and quality projections of human health impacts in Africa. Scientists' understanding of the multiple ways that climate change increases risks to human health has advanced significantly in recent years. At the recent 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt, the impact of climate change on human health and evidence-based solutions and adaptation actions was a key theme. This is a key signal of the increasing importance of climate change and health discourse.

To contribute to building a strong case of publicly accessible multidisciplinary evidence for policy, decision-making, research, and teaching, this Research Topic calls for submissions on climate change, human health, and health services. Examples of topic areas include but are not limited to:

• Manuscripts that address different aspects interfacing climate and health, the impact of climate change on health and healthcare service delivery in Africa; and how the healthcare systems are adapting to and mitigating the threat of climate change are targeted;

• The shifting burden of a communicable and non-communicable disease complex to the impacts of extreme events on health systems;

• Research that addresses potential adaptations and mitigations towards resilient and healthier societies;

• Climate change and health communication/media/science research translation;

• Political economy and the global governance of climate and health;

• Climate-informed decision support tools for the health sector; implementation research and policy for resilient health systems;

• Climate change effects on indigenous health and local communities;

• Climate change and oral health;

• Climate change and African indigenous health knowledge systems and local communities.

Keywords: Climate Change, Health Policy, Health Services, Climate-informed Decision, Indigenous Health, Local Communities, Governance

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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