Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy on Monday urged Guyanese to fully embrace the challenges of responding to climate change which has become a major health issue.
The health minister in a message on World Health Day disclosed that “because of changing weather patterns and environmental conditions, asthma is on the rise in every country. Vector-borne diseases, such as dengue is on the rise, even in places where mosquitoes were eliminated many decades ago.”
Ramsammy also noted that most of the Caribbean, Central America and South America have experienced dengue outbreaks in the last two years.
“Malaria outbreaks have occurred in The Bahamas and in Jamaica. Guyana itself recorded almost 400 cases of dengue in 2007. New infectious diseases are emerging and others are appearing in unusual places,” the health minister pointed out.
He also noted the major significance of vector control in Guyana and other countries, adding that it is an expensive and a long-term responsibility. The government, he said, would have to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to control various kinds of vectors.
However, Ramsammy maintained that people must also play a role as most of the breeding sites for mosquitoes come from their every-day activities, adding that now the use of bed nets during sleeping hours, day or night, must become normal healthy lifestyle choices.
“Breeding sites for rats also come from our every-day lifestyles. Successful mitigation of the impact of climate change on health will depend critically on how well we adjust the way we live,” Ramsammy said.
He also urged that “We must become more responsible in the way we deal with garbage.”
And government, he acknowledged, will have to be more visible in dealing with solid waste issues, but people must take on greater personal responsibility.
“We discard waste too wantonly, without any regard for our own safety. It is not true that what we discard is no longer our business. Unfor-tunately, what we discard can come back to haunt us, as they have done so remarkably in recent years.”
He noted further that “increasing dengue cases, more leptospirosis, more diarrhoea cases, etc are only some ways that our discarded waste come back to haunt us.”
Increasing food costs
Ramsammy also observed that while nutrition is an important part of good health, the impact of climate change has in several ways contributed to increasing food costs globally.
According to Ramsammy, “Some may want to use increasing food costs as a political tool. But it is my duty as Minister of Health to caution people that increasing food costs already seen is but a tip of the iceberg. Unless action is taken today among global governments, escalating food costs would become a major health issue. We must as a nation and a people prepare ourselves to address this major challenge.”
He posited that the problem of nutrition and health would become more urgent with the way the global trading regime places developing countries at a disadvantage. These trading disadvantages, he argued, are most certainly going to exacerbate the developing food crisis.
‘Without Health for All’, Ramsammy contended, no country can come close to realizing its aspiration of eliminating poverty and providing a decent standard of living for all its citizens.
However, he pointed out that in reaching that goal many challenges would have to be confronted, including climate change.
This year the World Health Organisation (WHO) chose to highlight the impacts of climate change on health as the theme for World Health Day, which is celebrated each year on April 7 – the date that marks the establishment of the WHO.
Ramsammy said that while health ministers of the world may not have the power to make changes that would reduce global warming or the pace of climate change, they can mount a strong and persuasive advocacy to the growing pressure for changes to reduce global warming and reverse the trend of climate change.
He said, however, that health ministers do have the power to mitigate the impact of climate change on the health of people, and through collective work at the WHO, they are taking on this role with a sense of urgency.
“We in Guyana must fully embrace the challenge of responding to climate change. It is here, it is now and it is a present day crisis,” Ramsammy declared, adding that “to ignore the realities of climate change would imperil our country.”
Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO representative Dr Kathleen Israel in her World Health Day message said that the occasion presented an important opportunity to draw worldwide attention to an issue of major importance to global health.
This year’s celebration, she noted, coincides with the 60th anniversary of the WHO and is dedicated to ‘Protecting Health from Climate Change’.
Indeed, she said, there is no subject worthy of greater attention in today’s world than the issue of climate change which has moved from the stage of skepticism to focused attention and tremendous seriousness.
The objective of this year’s World Health Day, Dr Israel said, is to catalyze public participation in the global campaign to protect health from the adverse effects of climate change.
In that light, it is expected that international agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and governments as well as WHO would establish links between climate change and health and other development areas such as the environment, food, energy, and transport.
Individual responsibility
She also pointed out that specific action to minimize the effects of climate change on Guyana is the responsibility of each and every single Guyanese at every level of the society.
“Every individual can take specific steps to minimize the emission of greenhouse gases such as those produced from vehicles, by being mindful of the fact that the accumulation of such gases lead to the so-called greenhouse effect which can create changes in the climate. Such activities include but are not limited to walking, cycling, and using mass transportation, for example buses. These activities are not only helpful in reducing green house gas emissions but can also be helpful in addressing some of the risks to health such as obesity, depression and social isolation.”
Israel said further that it was encouraging that Guyana has already established a committee for climate-related matters and urged that health be represented fully on that committee.
