Full room for our ECTMIH session co-hosted with the Dutch Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs. Image: ECTMIH2023The nexus between climate and health has gained a lot of traction. From research to policymaking and practice. In the Netherlands, the government included climate as one of their priorities in the Dutch Global Health Strategy. Globally, we are experiencing the growing urgency to act now on what The Lancet has called “the largest global public health threat of the 21st century”. The good news is there is already a lot being done on the intersection between climate and health. Scientists and scholars have gathered in depth evidence, recommending ways ahead for policy and practice. Universities are adapting their medical curriculum so that future generations of health professionals are equipped. Civil society organisations are proposing innovative ways of developing and implementing health programmes worldwide.
The elephant in the room has also been raised during the congress. What can be said about those in power to enact structural policy change? Policy was at the heart of many discussions at ECTMIH. Especially considering the congress took place in the week of the Dutch General Elections. The Dutch Global Health Alliance organised a session zooming in on the role of the Dutch Global Health Strategy to address and carry forward the climate and health agenda. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the session delved into a conversation around health financing, decolonisation, and monitoring, to name only a few topics.
From left to right, some of our panellists during our ECTMIH session were Nikki Kenters (MoH), Dr Johnblack Kabukye (Postdoctoral researcher, University of Stockholm), Kimberley Nagesser (DGHA), and Sharif Egal (MoFA). Image: ECTMIH2023For the two ministries, addressing climate and health is a two-sided coin: on one hand we must adapt health systems to become ‘climate proof’, and on the other hand must reduce the footprint of the health sector. “The Dutch healthcare system”, says Sharif Egal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “is responsible for 7% of greenhouse gas emissions, both in the Netherlands and abroad”. Later that day, Health Minister Ernst Kuipers also reiterated that the Netherlands takes reducing the footprint generated by the health sector as a top priority in its approach to global health.
During our session, participants raised crucial questions. How will the Dutch Global Health Strategy be monitored? How will the government finance the strategy’s climate agenda? What mechanism will the Netherlands adopt to meaningfully engage communities at every step of the policy process? How will health and climate change become a cross-ministerial responsibility?
Plenary session at ECTMIH with Health Minister Ernst Kuipers (right) and co-chairs Dr Joyce Browne (forefront), UMC Utrecht, the Netherlands, and Dr Renzo Guinto (back), St Luke’s Medical Centre'One thing remains clear: the time to act is now.'
We were pleased to hear such crucial questions being raised and discussed. For now, one thing remains clear: the time to act is now. There is enough scientific evidence illustrating the health impacts of climate change. In addition, countries and communities, particularly in the low and middle income countries most affected by climate change, already represent a source of knowledge on how to put the climate and health agenda into policy and practice. The Dutch Global Health Alliance hopes the Netherlands gives the Dutch Global Health Strategy the political and financial support it needs to become practice, while upholding commitments to inclusivity and accountability.
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