CAIRO – Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said that Egypt was among the earliest countries that raised alarm over the negative impact of climate change on health care systems, an attitude that prevailed at the COP27 through maintaining coordination among health and climate issues by all parties taking part at the conference.
Such an attitude yield success following Egypt’s participation in the Alliance for action on climate change and health (ATACH) with the participation of World Health Organization (WHO) President Tedros Adhanom, the minister added.
Minister Abdel Ghaffar was delivering a speech at a celebration held to mark the Arab Health Day at the premises of the Arab League here, under the rubric “The Impact of climate Change on Health”.
ATACH, the WHO-led program for action on climate and health to create climate resilient and low carbon sustainable health systems has launched the Climate Action And Nutrition Working Group (I-CAN WG) to reinforce climate action, Abdel Ghaffar added.
He, meanwhile, pointed out to the inauguration of the Sharm El Sheikh International Hospital on the sidelines of the summit, which is deemed the first green and eco-friendly medical facility in Egypt and Africa.
The hospital was registered as the first Egyptian entity at the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH), an international network of medical facilities using eco-friendly tools.
The activities of celebrating the Arab Health Day entail highlighting the repercussion of the climate change on health as well as handing over awards to Arab doctors who won the Arab Doctor Award 2023, the minister said.
By the year 2030, the climate change is expected to cause over 250,000 deaths annually due to malnutrition, malaria disease and heat stress, minister Abdel Ghaffar added.
