Representatives from WHO-SEARO member countries gathered to discuss how health and environment ministries can adapt and mitigate to climate change
New Delhi, India -- Joining members of the World Health Organization South East Asia Regional Office (WHO-SEARO), HCWH - Asia’s Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) took part in the Regional Workshop on Protecting Human Health from Climate Change last July in New Delhi, India.
GGHH Coordinator Faye Ferrer presented GGHH’s campaign to promote green practices among hospitals and health systems worldwide and highlighted the climate-resilient health facilities of members in Asia. The presentation gave country representatives ideas on how to implement both adaptation and mitigation measures in response to climate change for their own health systems.
Attended by 10 SEARO countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Maldvies, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste — the workshop is part of WHO’s efforts to highlight health as a climate change issue, with government representatives from both the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Environment in attendance. Each country representative presented their initiatives on health adaptation to climate change. Thailand’s Ministry of Health, a member of GGHH, presented one hospital best practice on climate change adaptation and mitigation, as part of the GREEN & CLEAN program of the government.
The WHO-SEARO Training Modules on Climate Change and Health was also launched during the three-day workshop.
At the COP 21 (Conference of the Parties) UN Climate Change Conference in Paris this December, WHO and HCWH will also be hosting a side event to tackle the global health impact of climate change.