The African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), working with the World Health Organization-World Meteorological Organization (WMO-WMO) Joint Climate and Health Programme, has launched the first Africa Climate-Health Desk.
Hosted at ACMAD in Niamey, Niger, the desk is intended to help countries across Africa use weather and climate information to support health planning, prevention and response. The organizations said the initiative comes as extreme heat and other climate-related health hazards increase across the continent.
According to ACMAD and its partners, the new unit will translate climate information into guidance that can be used by health authorities, hospitals, communities and decision-makers. It is described as the first climate-health desk at regional level in Africa and the second launched globally after the South Asia Climate-Health Desk.
The launch forms part of a broader program led by the WHO-WMO Joint Programme and funded by Wellcome and The Rockefeller Foundation.
ACMAD said that access to and use of weather and climate information for health planning has so far been limited in Africa. The new desk is intended to address that gap by building capacity, supporting partnerships and providing tailored climate information, including impact-based early warnings that indicate when heat or other hazards are beginning to threaten public health.
Ousmane Ndiaye, director-general of ACMAD, said, “Climate change is reshaping health risks across Africa, challenging countries to stay one step ahead. Our real opportunity lies in anticipation: Africa cannot afford to wait for emergencies to unfold.”
The organizations said the desk will support earlier prevention and more effective responses by improving how climate and health information is shared and used.
Joy Shumake-Guillemot, head of the WHO-WMO Climate and Health Joint Programme, said, “We are taking another step toward ensuring that climate and health communities are better connected, better informed, speak the same language and are equipped to better work together on concrete analytics and decision-support tools.
“Ultimately, this means local leaders know what to do when severe weather warnings are issued; families know how to protect themselves from extreme heat and when to seek care; and health workers receive the right alerts so they can respond effectively. In short: earlier warnings, better planning, clearer advice and faster local response.”
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