EpiGen Ethiopia: Our Role in Climate Change and Health
The African continent carries a disproportionate amount of disease burden. With prevalent inequalities to healthcare access in the region paired with the ever-growing threat of climate change on our health and health systems, Africa is positioned to carry an even higher disease burden than today.
EpiGen Ethiopia co-investigator Prof. Tobias Rinke de Wit recently presented on this topic to the National Information Platforms for Nutrition. Hosted by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Prof. Tobias shared a few key details about his experience as a scientist and an activist in the field of global and planetary health. (Links: Duke University - What is Global Health? Planetary Health Alliance - What is Planetary Health?)
Speaking to an intimate and curious audience of 35, Tobias brought forth the importance of ‘Factivism’ as part of a researcher and scientist’s duty in the modern age, especially as we fight against the spread of fake news across social media platforms. This is especially relevant as climate change denialism gained more popularity in recent years as seen on traditional and social media platforms.
Climate change is poised to affect our relationship with epidemiological research as well. As temperatures increase, water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea are expected spread more frequently and to become more resistant as a result of more frequent infections. These will affect vulnerable populations such as children, mothers, and older populations. We can already see this today. At the end of 2022, the United Nations reported that the surge in cholera infections was driven by climate change.
What is our role as EpiGen Ethiopia?
EpiGen Ethiopia contributes to the development of new knowledge in the field of pandemic and epidemic preparedness by collecting information across various sites which will help scientists and policymakers identify target diseases and assist in their decision-making processes. This data will be useful for future researchers building the relationship between climate change and health.
You can find the full presentation here.