UN groups call for action to protect maternal and child health against climate change - University of Minnesota Twin Cities
UN groups call for action to protect maternal and child health against climate change | CIDRAP
Ahead of a United Nations (UN) climate change conference (COP28) that begins next week in Dubai, UN agencies today said the impacts of climate change on the health of pregnant women and children have been neglected, underreported, and underestimated.
The groups said few countries have included maternal and child health, which they said is a "glaring omission."
Rising global temperatures are increasing the spread of diseases such as cholera, malaria, and dengue, which can be severe in pregnant women and children. Infections during pregnancy can lead to preterm birth and other complications, and the diseases in children can hinder physical growth and brain development.
Seven key steps
In their report, the UN groups' call to action details seven key steps to address the risks, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, climate finance, and including women and children in climate and disaster-related policies.
Helen Clark, New Zealand's former prime minister and chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, said in a statement, "The urgency to integrate women, children and adolescent health needs into climate responses is not just a moral imperative, but an effective strategy with long-term benefits for resilient and healthy societies."
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.