WHS event: Addressing Pandemic Threats Through the Lens of Climate Change

PD 04 – Addressing Pandemic Threats Through the Lens of Climate Change

Oct. 13, 2024, CEST: 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM / UTC: 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM

Panel Discussion (PD 04) - Africa

The intersection of climate change and health has received increased public attention in recent years. However, the impact of climate change on infectious diseases is not always part of the discussion.

The changing climate is expanding the range of disease-carrying animals, such as mosquitoes and bats, partly due to climate-prompted migration. This increases the number of animal-to-human spill-over opportunities and viral-sharing between animals, heightening the risk of a new human virus, or Disease X, emerging.

Human health, planetary health, animal health and plant health are interdependent. We cannot advance pandemic resilience without considering how others are approaching the shared ecosystem.

As countries around the world learn from their experience in COVID-19 to build their resilience against an unknown future pandemic, it is imperative to incorporate climate change and One Health in the consideration and engineer systemic changes.

This panel discussion seeks to examine the relationship between pandemics, climate change and One Health, identify existing gaps and potential areas of intervention, and foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders.