Climate-smart healthcare
Pakistan is no stranger to the painstaking effects of climate change. It enjoys diverse seasons but is also impacted by the extremely divergent climate change concerns including excessive heat, droughts, and floods.
Worsening heat stress and shooting temperatures put Pakistan in a defenseless position as it faces a rise in water scarcity, malnutrition, and vector-borne diseases that target the most vulnerable. Child-bearing women, children, people with pre-existing conditions, and people in poverty are worse-off in a cycle of degrading health and environmental decay; and this will only worsen with time.
Recently we have seen the influence of climate change in Pakistan interrelated with diseases. Droughts and excessive rainfall have promoted malaria and dengue, both deadly and fast-growing. In 2019, Pakistan reported 300,000 malaria cases, making it the region with the highest burden of vector-borne diseases. According to WHO, 98% of Pakistan is at risk of malaria.
The current climate has adversely effected crop yields and poses a huge risk on adding to the under- nutrition of Pakistan’s population. Elevated carbon dioxide levels in the air and soil result in crops with significantly diminished nutrient profiles and reduces overall food production. This loss is more acute in Pakistan as most of the population is unable to afford animal protein. This nutritional impact on human health will be detrimental and poses many challenges.
Pakistan’s population is only growing and thus the impact of climate, disease, and nutrition on our dragging economy. The government must think hard about climate change and the biodiversity crisis and take operational steps towards climate-influenced healthcare development and fund health-promoting systems that reduce diseases and adapt to the new demands of quality healthcare. Investing in healthcare is investing in a rapidly growing economy.
The challenges of climate change are multi-sectoral, and it is critical to address and mitigate the ongoing and potential health risks. The Covid-19 pandemic is an added stressor to these conditions. There is also poverty, political conflicts, and now a pandemic tightly forcing migration which has its own short and long-term consequences. Places are becoming unlivable for most. People testing positive have more problems to worry about than just the virus. Terrible climate and living conditions go hand-in-hand with and are a causing factor of lack of access to healthcare. It is complicating the health system now more than ever.
People in rural areas might be able to venture to big cities for treatment, if not, they are left with the dismay of possibly having to migrate for long- or short-term post-care treatment. This brings us to the question: should treatment be made convenient for the provider or the patient? The government is not focusing on the latter. Internal migration — now a necessity — results in increased nutritional deficiencies due to disproportionate delivery of nutrition, increased infection as a result of overcrowding and no basic sanitary infrastructures; and this also leads to mental health concerns. The healthcare sector is at the forefront of climate impacts and healthcare professionals are the first responders in preventing fatalities caused by climate change.
Pakistan is disproportionately exposed to the impact of climate change and is driving the mortality rate even higher with the pandemic. We must realise that climate change isn’t just restricted to affecting polar bears and Arctic glaciers, it is endangering our health, causing increased risks for different diseases. Universal healthcare is a possible opportunity which will help weaken the burden Pakistan faces as a climate sensitive nation and will provide access to healthcare with equal opportunities.
Separating climate change and healthcare is delusional. We must work at both provincial and federal and with enough changes in the management of agriculture, water and other industries, we are sure to see an acceleration in healthcare and a turn in Pakistan’s economy.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2020.
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