Katsina State Government Develops Comprehensive Health Adaptation Plan to Mitigate Climate Change Impacts

By Abdullahi Kano

The Katsina State Government, led by Governor Mallam Dikko Umar, has embarked on developing a comprehensive health adaptation plan to mitigate the impacts of climate change on health and healthcare delivery services in the state.

The Commissioner for Health Alhaji Musa Adamu Funtua disclosed this during a workshop on Health Adaptation Development organized by the Katsina state government with support from Lafiya Program,Held in Kano.

Represented by Dr. Muawiyah Aliyu, the Director of Public Health and the Chairman of Technical Working Group for Health State Adaptation Plan for Katsina State, said the plan is being developed by a technical working group comprises of representatives from various stakeholders.

Dr. Aliyu explained that climate change is a global issue that affects virtually the entire country, including Katsina State.

He said the state has experienced an increase in the number of diseases that were previously manageable, but are now becoming more challenging to treat due to changes in climate.

The Director noted that Katsina state government has established a climate-sensitive disease surveillance system to respond quickly to emerging health issues.

“The Katsina State Government has implemented several mitigation strategies to address the impacts of climate change on health. These include:
Establishing climate-resilient health infrastructure, Launching community awareness campaigns to sensitize residents on health risks related to climate change, Implementing water, sanitation, and hygiene initiatives in vulnerable communities, Training healthcare workers on integrating climate considerations into health service delivery And Providing solar electricity in health facilities to reduce dependence on generators and greenhouse gas emissions”

He maintained that government has established three strong committees to coordinate climate change resilience in the state.

“These committees include the State Council on Climate Change, chaired by the Governor, the State Climate Technical Committee, chaired by the Commissioner for Environment, and the State Forum on Climate Change, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment.”

In his remarks Dr Yusuf Gide Director Ministry of Environment Katsina State highlighted the causes of climate change, including human activities such as deforestation, soil degradation, and burning of fossil fuels.

” The ministry emphasized the importance of afforestation and reforestation efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. ”

Earlier Hajiya Rukayya Mohammad from National council of Climate Change said the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the National Council on Climate Change, is socializing the Health National Adaptation Plan (HNAP) document with states to help them adapt it to their specific needs.

She noted that the aim is to ensure that states understand the linkages between climate change and health and mainstream climate change into their health sectors.

Time Express reports that FCDO has earlier supported the development of Climate and Health vulnerability assessment that was utilised in developing the Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP) which States are using to develop their Health State Adaptation to Plan (H-SAP) for mitigation and Adaptatiom of effects of climate change on health.

The Three days training attracted participants from various agencies and stakeholders.