By Joan Muthoki
Women and girls are increasingly experiencing reproductive health complications owing to climate change, Dr. Elizabeth Kimani Murage, Head of the Maternal and Child Wellbeing Unit, Africa Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) has said.
“Physiologically, women need a lot of nutrients and micronutrients for their reproductive health needs. Climate change affects the quantity and quality of food production,” she said.
For instance, said Dr Kimani, “Vitamin B Complex and iron, which are important during pregnancy may not be available in food-insecure communities due to drought and thus affect the development of the fetuses.”
Dr. Kimani made the remarks during a Webinar jointly organized by the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), Amref Kenya, WHO late on Tuesday. The theme of the Webinar was: The Public Health Impacts of Climate Change: Unravelling the Science and Solutions for Sustainable Adaptation and Mitigation in Africa.
She said there is a modest focus on health implications in climate change discussions, “There is a gap in attribution science for instance we say that malnutrition is a major problem yet we do not have evidence-based data for this,” she said.
She said that actors in science should not base their evidence on projections but rather on longitudinal, empirical data as well as the lived experiences of those affected.
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Further, the experts will use the Webinar Series to explore the climate change and health nexus, the mechanisms for strengthening and building climate resilient health systems, financial mobilisation, and potential financing instruments, and build a Pan-African position based on health equity, social justice, and cross-sectoral integrated systems.
This way, Dr Elizabeth added, countries stand a better chance of lobbying for the Loss and Damage Fund. The fund was one of the resounding resolutions from COP 27 to provide financial assistance to nations most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate change.
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The expert further asserted that cases of gender-based violence, and early marriage were growing because of climate change. “In regions where there is a problem with food security the girl is often married off early so that the family may benefit from the bride price,” she said.
