A team at the International Climate Change Information and Research
Programme
https://www.haw-hamburg.de/en/ftz-nk/programmes-and-networks/iccirp/ and
Interdisciplinary Expert Centre on Climate Change and Health (IECCCH)
https://www.haw-hamburg.de/ftz-nk/ieccch/ at the University of Applied
Sciences has undertaken a study which looked at the
costs of climate change to African health systems.
The findings give reasons for concern. The changing disease patterns,
increased frequency of extreme weather events, and environmental
degradation pose substantial challenges to health systems. Malaria,
amongst the most sensitive diseases to climate change, represents a real
threat for Africa.Many regions in Africa have climatic conditions which
are favorable to the development of the Anopheles mosquito vector and
the Plasmodium malaria parasite constitutes a real problem for the
health sectors. Africa does not have enough resources to deal with the
effects of climate change, which makes it more vulnerable. Several
additional resources are needed in terms of training sufficiently
qualified health professionals, medical equipment, building more health
centres and hospitals in areas where the most vulnerable populations are
located. Addressing the health impacts of climate change in Africa
requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach, integrating climate
change adaptation and mitigation strategies into healthcare planning,
resource allocation, and policy development.
The paper reporting on the study, titled “Money for health: handling the
costs of climate change to African health systems” has just been
published in the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition and can be
seen at: https://jhpn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41043-025-00802-9.
