Online Reporter
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Health Reporter
THE country has declared climate change a national priority as the Government moves to develop its first Health National Adaptation Plan aimed at strengthening resilience to growing climate-related health threats.
Officially opening the Health National Adaptation Plan (HNAP) stakeholder consultative meeting in Harare yesterday, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said Zimbabwe has reached a critical turning point that demands urgent and coordinated action.
“We gather here today at a defining moment for our nation and for our health system. This is a strategic inflection point: one that calls for decisive leadership, coordinated action, and sustained commitment,” he said.
“Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is a lived reality for Zimbabwe.
“Let us, therefore, be unequivocal: climate change is not solely an environmental issue. It is a public health emergency.”
Dr Mombeshora said the country continues to face recurring droughts, floods and cyclones, including devastating events such as Cyclone Idai, which demanded that the health systems work harder to assist the affected.
He warned that these shocks are increasing in both frequency and intensity, driving disease outbreaks, malnutrition and pressure on already stretched services.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Afro regional climate and health lead, Dr Jeremiah Mushosho, said scientific evidence shows a clear link between climate change and worsening health outcomes.
“Average temperatures in Zimbabwe have been increasing over the years, while rainfall has been decreasing and becoming erratic and unpredictable.
“Extreme heat, which is not well understood, is now a major issue, and the country is ranked among the most climate-vulnerable.
“What this means is that climate change is really a priority area for the health sector. Zimbabwe’s top killer diseases, malaria, diarrhoea and cholera, are all climate-sensitive,” said Dr Mushosho.
Permanent Secretary for Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Mr Tadeous Chifamba, who was represented by Mr Lovemore Dobha, said the development of the HNAP comes at a time when climate change is increasingly threatening health and development gains.
“We are meeting today not just to develop a general plan, but to emerge with a model health national climate change adaptation plan.
“Climate change is fast emerging as the biggest risk multiplier for health. It is driving the surge in malaria, cholera and malnutrition, while weakening our health systems and threatening to reverse decades of development,” he said.
CeSHHAR director for climate, environment and health, Dr Fortunate Machingura, said Africa is bearing the brunt of climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions.
“Across Africa, we contribute approximately 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet we are among the hardest hit. Between 2001 and 2021, nearly 60 percent of public health events were linked to climate-related factors.
“Climate change is no longer something we prepare for; it is something we are already living through. It is now the central driver of the public health challenges,” she said.
