Strengthen the resilience of Ghana’s health system on climate change- World Bank report

A World Bank report titled “Climate and Health Vulnerability Assessment (CHVA) for Ghana has called for urgent action to strengthen the resilience of Ghana health systems on the adverse effects of climate change.
The report seeks to identify gaps and risks in the country health sector and recommends policy actions that must provide valuable insights into capacity to adapt to climate related shocks.
“Climate change in Ghana is causing extreme weather condition like flood and droughts causing food insecurity, injuries and the risk of death for 2 billion people,” the report stated, nothing further that Ghana is highly vulnerable particularly to illness like malaria and diarrhea disease among others.
According to the report, health issues related to air pollution and infectious disease are on the rise with the elderly, youth and children being particularly vulnerable.
Launching the report in Accra, the Dean of the School of the Public Health at the University of Ghana, Prof. Kwesi Torpey said the country have suffered 22 climate actions impacting negatively on millions of people through floods, storms among others.
The Dean of the School of Public Health University of Ghana said the report have requested for the provision of a sustainable health and climate change financing monitoring commitment to help address isssues related climate resilient of the country.
The World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Mr. Robert Taliercio said the Bank has changed its mission to ending extreme poverty and boosting prosperity on a livable planet.
“A healthy population is the corner stone of prosperity therefore implementing adaption and mitigation measures is crucial not only to address current challenges but also to prevent further adversities,” he said, adding that government is ahead of the curve in thinking about the potential impacts of climate on health.
Prof. Mawuli Dzodzomenyo, Head of Department, Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health of the University of Ghana school of Public Health and also the Lead author of the report said the CHVA and research on climate change and health contributes to the developments of climate resilient health systems and pointed out that allocation of resources must be adequately provided.