KUCHING: Environmental Health practitioners have been told to come up with innovative adaptations, strategies and measures to protect venerable communities against the negative impacts of climate change at grassroots level.
“There is a need to develop mechanisms to reduce health risks to those communities impacted by climate related diseases,” said Local Government and Housing Assistant Minister Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil.
Citing the President of International Federation Environmental Health (IFEH) in his World Environmental Health Day 2019 message, Penguang stressed the need for the world populace to address a few issues in unison.
These include reducing the direct and indirect impacts of climate change caused by rising temperatures and changing weather patterns, and tackling issues related to global health care.
He pointed out that the efforts of countries to achieve Key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — for example SDG (no poverty), SDG2 (end hunger), SDG3 (good health and wellbeing) and SDG4 (clean water and sanitation) — under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are being threatened by climate change. “As a result, there could be many more million people living in poverty, particularly in developing countries,” he added
