The Rockefeller Foundation and Wellcome have jointly mobilize U.S. $11.5 million to support the World Health Organization-World Meteorological Organization Climate and Health Joint Programme.
The announcement was made at the World Health Assembly and comes at a time when climate and extreme weather events are worsening human health.
The funding will help the WHO-WMO Joint Programme to rapidly accelerate and scale weather and climate insights that feed into health decision-making processes in low- and middle-income countries.
This includes solutions like health-relevant early warnings and forecasts to better detect, forecast, and respond to extreme weather and climate-related health threats.
"This partnership and initiative represent a major step forward. It will accelerate the use of tailored climate services to address some of the most urgent health challenges of our time, from heat-related illness to the spread of infectious diseases. By strengthening early warning systems, digital tools, technical support, and training, we can equip governments and health systems to effectively use climate information and services to save lives," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
"We are deeply grateful to The Rockefeller Foundation and Wellcome for their investment, which will help drive innovative solutions and support climate-resilient health systems in the regions that need them most," she said.
Climate impacts are fueling food and water insecurity, shifting disease patterns, widening inequality, and increasing death, disease, and ill-health. These health impacts also result in significant ripple effects beyond health, impacting economic productivity, creating new challenges for displaced communities, and driving migration and political instability.
Last year, at least ten countries recorded temperatures of more than 50°C - that's 122°F. Many dozens more saw daytime overnight temperatures of more than 40°C. These dangerously high temperatures push human health to the brink, WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett said at a side event on Temperatures Rising: Preparing and Protecting for Extreme Heat." It was hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation , Wellcome and the Global Heat Health Information Network .
Extreme heat kills an estimated half a million people a year and has resulted in $835 billion in potential lost income in 2023 alone . Advancing heat-warning systems in 57 countries alone could save nearly 100,000 lives per year , but today only 23 percent of national health authorities currently use climate and meteorological data in their health planning.
WMO's State of Climate Services for Health 2023 highlights that only half of national meteorological services issue extreme heat warnings, and just 26 countries have dedicated heat-health early warning systems. Expanding these services to 57 countries could save nearly 100,000 lives every year, Ko Barrett told the event.
"After a 'decade of deadly heat,' it is clear that public health's status quo is not going to cut it. To save and improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people, we have to reimagine how we meet our mission today and invest in novel solutions both providers and patients need today," said Dr. Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President of Health at The Rockefeller Foundation. "Our partnership with Wellcome will accelerate efforts to close the gap between science and life-saving impact and help finally build a health care system fit for purpose in the 21st century."
"We must put people's health at the heart of climate solutions. Our changing climate negatively affects our diet, the air we breathe, the heat stress on our body, our mental health and increases the risks to food-borne or water-borne infections as well as disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes," said Dr. Alan Dangour, Director of Climate and Health at Wellcome. "But there are known solutions and science can show the way with major benefits for human health around the world. Our partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation alongside other global organizations will ensure that robust scientific evidence drives policy and action."
The joint investment was announced on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly, where The Rockefeller Foundation announced a U.S. $5.2 million grant to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to support the WHO-WMO Climate and Health Joint Programme, matching Wellcome's US $6.3 million grant announced last October at the World Health Summit. The joint investment will focus on efforts to:
- Prototype and scale in-country operational health-meteorological units in 7 countries across Africa, Latin America, and Asia to more effectively harness cutting-edge climate and weather science.
- Support cross-sectoral collaboration and capacity building between National Meteorological Agencies and Ministries of Health in at least 80 countries.
- Catalyze investment and collaboration to accelerate a more informed, aligned, strategic, and coordinated response to prevent immediate and long-term impacts of climate on human health.
- Advance science-based health action by elevating scientific understanding of weather and climate impacts on health in support of decision-making at national, regional, and international levels.
