Health impact: Global report outlines health challenges

Focuses on interdependence between the health of people and the planet

ISLAMABAD: Lack of coordination among departments has hampered the implementation of policies evolved by the government.

This admission came from National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Minister Saira Afzal Tarar during the local launch of a Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission (RFLC) report on planetary health titled, ‘Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch’.

She urged collective efforts for effective implementation of government initiatives and the need for an inter-ministerial forum at federal and provincial levels for implementing administrative and welfare policies. Addressing the launch ceremony, the minister said the country faced challenges such as access to clean drinking water and population control, and that these could not be resolved in isolation. She said the ministry has established a separate secretariat for non-communicable diseases and has appointed a focal person to create public awareness.

The report calls for action to ensure future health and environmental sustainability. RFLC Planetary Health Commissioner for Dr Sania Nishtar said public health and the planet are deeply interconnected, leading to complex interdependencies in public policy.

“We need a new paradigm of governance to promote collaborative inter-sectoral action to solving sectoral objectives”, Dr Nishtar said. She added that intermediary agencies with the capacity to assemble instruments for asset allocation mapping, incentives for collaborative division of labour, and developing metrics to assess governmental performance were crucial at this stage.

RFLC Chairman Sir Andy Haines said, “We are on the verge of triggering irreversible global effects, ranging from ocean acidification to biodiversity loss,” adding, “These environmental changes include, but extend far beyond climate change, to threaten the gains in health that have been achieved over recent decades and increase the risks to health arising from major challenges as diverse as malnutrition, food insecurity, freshwater shortages, emerging infectious diseases, and extreme weather events.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2015.