Ahead of World Health Summit, the IRC highlights growing public health risk of climate change and conflict

October 14, 2024 - dir="ltr">With delegates from around the world and across the private sector and civil society gathered in Berlin for the 2024 World Health Summit, the IRC is calling attention to the various ways that violent conflict and the climate crisis are worsening public health challenges globally.

The convergence of violent conflict and climate change is fueling an alarming deterioration of public health in many of the most vulnerable contexts around the world. The IRC has identified 16 countriesin which that convergence is especially pronounced. Those countries account for 10.5% of the total global population but a staggering 71.1% of people in humanitarian need.

At the same time and in the face of clear evidence that both conflict and climate disasters are damaging public health globally, less than 5% of all climate adaptation financing goes to the health sector and only a quarter of that insufficient share is directed to fragile settings. A bad situation is getting worse and the necessary, limited resources being directed toward it are not being expended in a way that reaches those who need them most urgently.

Several examples of the ways conflict and climate change are directly causing public health catastrophes and how the IRC and others are responding include:

• This global surge in mpox cases has been largely concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, with more than 30,000 cases and 990 deaths as of October 1, 2024. Spread of mpox has been of particular concern in camps housing people displaced by the conflict in North Kivu and recent severe flooding in Burundi, underscoring how both conflict and climate disasters can exacerbate public health challenges. In response, the IRC has engaged in public awareness campaigns, hygiene kit distribution and is currently fine-tuning an app that uses artificial intelligence to screen and identify mpox patients more easily. To learn more, read the IRC's brief on this latest mpox spread.
• In July of this year, poliovirus was detected in Gaza's wastewater and in August Gaza had its first confirmed case of polio in 25 years. This coupled with overcrowded conditions in shelters means Gaza is now especially vulnerable to rapid disease spread. The World Health Organization recently completed an initial wave of vaccination for polio that reached around 560,000 children under the age of 10 but ongoing hostilities are impeding efforts to build on this progress. While the IRC has delivered emergency medical care and water sanitation services to Gaza and has joined calls for both a ceasefire and a concerted and sustained vaccination campaign in the territory, meaningful progress against polio and other disease spread in Gaza will require the rebuilding and rehabilitation of health and water facilities. This will require lifting restrictions on the entrance of vital equipment and supplies and a lasting cessation of violent conflict.
• Cholera is spreading across northeast Syria and Yemen with alarming rates in parts of Yemen - two active conflict zones that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis. In northeast Syria, the main factors behind this outbreak include severe droughts and the reduced access to safe drinking water and sanitation systems, driven both by climate change and more than decade of violent conflict. In Yemen, recent flooding has displaced tens of thousands of people and destroyed key infrastructure including sanitation and water treatment systems, all resulting in an increased risk of further cholera outbreaks. In both places, the IRC is working to distribute essential medical supplies, hire community health workers for on the ground containment and mitigation and plans to help rebuild essential water and sanitation systems.
• Unprecedented levels of hunger continue to ravage fragile contexts around the world with as many as 45 million children under the age of 5 suffering from acute malnutrition at any given moment. Up to 2 million children under the age of 5 will die each year as a result of malnutrition. Across countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria Somalia, South Sudan, the combined toll of years of violent conflict and climate change impacts including severe drought and flooding have driven alarming spikes in child malnutrition. The IRC's Movement Against Malnutrition is a new venture, founded by the IRC, with a single goal: to ensure that no child dies of hunger, especially when we have scalable and proven solutions.
• An increase in conflict and climate disruptions has left more children without access to lifesaving vaccinations against diseases such as diphtheria and measles, compounding health inequities. In 2023, Sudan experienced the sharpest drop in immunization coverage due to the civil war, with DTP3 (third dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) coverage decreasing to 51% from 68% in 2022. Concurrently, climate change is increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. The IRC-led Reaching Every Child in Humanitarian Settings (REACH) project, the first time Gavi has directly funded and supplied humanitarian partners, has worked in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan since 2022, targeting 156 districts in conflict-affected, and cross-border communities where national immunization programs are not able to function. Through humanitarian negotiations, REACH has improved access to hard-to-reach locations from 16% in November 2022 to 96% by September 2024. To date, over 650,000 children have received their first dose of DTP1, placing them on the path to complete immunization coverage.

The international community must prioritize the efficient and precise use of resources to more effectively tackle the ways that conflict and climate change are deepening public health crises around the world. Proven, scalable solutions like childhood immunization programs, investments in infection prevention and control and support for local systems geared toward malnutrition treatment and food security are all potent examples of the way forward.