Monday, December 7 – Climate Change Coordinator for the Territory, Ms. Angela Burnett Penn, received insight into the response capacity of climate change health threats used by neighbouring Caribbean countries when she attended the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Workshop on Climate Change, Water and Health held in Panamá City, Panamá.
The Workshop was organised in response to the growing body of evidence that shows climate change posing serious threats to human health, many of which are mediated through changes in rainfall patterns and the availability of fresh drinking water.
One of the main objectives of the workshop was to share information among Central American and Caribbean countries on human health threats and vulnerabilities and to propose actions to empower, equip and strengthen health systems locally to protect human health from risks associated with climate change.
Participants were given the opportunity to present on their population’s vulnerability to health problems associated with climate change and the adoption of measures needed to curb both present and future threats.
Upon her return to the Territory last week, Ms. Burnett Penn spoke with the Department of Information and Public Relations on the benefits received from attending the workshop.
“The most interesting part of the workshop was the country presentations. For me it really confirmed all the theory on climate change and health impacts. There was not a country present that did not highlight changes in their climate and health implications that are already happening as predicted. In particular warmer temperatures, extreme rain events and stronger hurricanes are resulting in more severe dengue fever outbreaks and increased cases of diarrhoea and respiratory diseases such as asthma,” Ms. Burnett Penn said.
During the workshop, participants from Jamaica, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Virgin Islands formed a working group in which they commenced development of a sub-regional adaptation action plan to address health issues related to climate change and water, based on the Pan American Heath Organisation/World Health Organisation Regional Plan of Action to Protect Human Health from the effects of Climate Change that was discussed by the Ministers of Health of the Region of the Americas, in September 2008.
Following the workshop, each country is to further develop these sub-regional adaptation action plans to a country level. Ms. Burnett Penn will team up with the relevant health officials to share information gained from the workshop and initiate the next steps.
The Conservation and Fisheries Department is the lead Government department coordinating the Territory’s response to climate change impacts on human health and a range of other sectors and resources, such as tourism, agriculture and fisheries and marine ecosystems.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour, the department will continue to inform the public about these impacts and work with stakeholders to develop suitable adaptation measures to predicted climate change impacts.
British Virgin Islands News