Urban Klima 2050 showcases its measures to integrate climate change in health policies at the Bizkaia Pharmacists Association
09/05/2024
Malake Muñoz Cachón, the Climate Action project manager at Ihobe, took part in the 'Climate Change and Vector Control' course held at the headquarters of the Bizkaia Pharmacists Association (COFBI) in Bilbao from 6 to 8 May.
Integrating climate change in health policies is at the focus of some of the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 actions. Indeed, this topic was in the spotlight at the ‘Climate Change and Vector Control’ course run by the Bizkaia Pharmacists Association at its Bilbao headquarters between 6 and 8 May.
The course aimed to determine how climate change impacts public health, the environment and the appearance of disease-carrying vectors; it also showcased the proposals implemented to adapt to this situation.
Malake Muñoz Cachón, the Climate Action project manager at Ihobe, took part in the session on Monday 6 May to present the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project and the actions related to this area. Specifically, the project is going further – by means of Action C3.1 – into the impacts of climate change on disease-carrying vectors, such as the tiger mosquito, and on the diseases they transmit. Furthermore, tool and indicators are being developed in order to incorporate future climate-change risks into the current prevention plans.
As Muñoz stressed, "in the year 2000 the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that climate change was already causing 150,000 deaths a year worldwide. That figure is expected to be around 250,000 by 2030". Therefore, she pointed out that "addressing issues in order to protect the health and wellbeing of the population against climate change is a priority as regards adaptation". That will be addressed by the Energy Transition and Climate Change Road Map in the long term, whose publication is envisaged for 2025, as established by the new Energy Transition and Climate Change Act 1/2024, of 8 February. Accordingly, Strategic Line 3 of the aforementioned long-term energy-climate planning – focused on protecting the health and wellbeing of the population against climate change – will establish 4 priority lines of action:
- Advancement of the knowledge on the effects of the climate change on health, particularly as regards heat waves and infectious vectors, along with the implications for occupational health.
- Integration of the risks arising from climate change in the health plans and strategies (Basque Health Plan, municipal health plans…).
- Impetus to preventive actions and protection against the negative impacts of climate change on health, particularly of the most vulnerable groups and occupational health.
- Development and implementation of early alert systems to the impacts of climate change and preparing action plans to prevent it negatively affecting health, along with increasing the resilience of the population.
