Adapting Health Systems to Protect Children from the Impact of Climate Change Series

November 10, 2022 - September 30, 2023
Online

The Re-imagining the Package of Care for Children subgroup of the Child Health Task Force and UNICEF are co-hosting a webinar series building on the event in May to foster discussion around adapting child health systems to become more resilient in the face of the climate crisis moving forward. Using the Healthy Environments for Healthy Children framework, this series will explore topics at the nexus of climate change and health identified by Task Force members as important to address in order to improve systems supporting maternal, newborn, and child health services.

Moderators:

  • Cara Endyke Doran, Global Communities, Re-imagining the Package of Care for Children Subgroup
  • Swathi Machikanti, Lead for Climate Adaptation, Healthy Environments for Healthy Children Programme, UNICEF

Organizers:

  • Sita Strother, Program Officer, JSI, Child Health Task Force Secretariat
  • Diamond Walters-Murray, Program Coordinator, Child Health Task Force Secretariat

Session One: Healthy Environments for Healthy Children Framework & the Effects of Heatwaves - November 10, 2022

The first session presented an overview of UNICEF's Healthy Environments for Healthy Children framework, shared highlights from UNICEF's newly released report on the impacts of heatwaves on children, and discussed possible interventions that can protect their health.

Presenters:

  • Abheet Solomon, Global Programme Lead, Healthy Environments for Healthy Children, UNICEF
  • Dr. Lisa Patel, Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change
  • Sari Kovats, Associate Professor in Environment and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • Nicholas Rees, East Asia and Pacific Programme Manager, Climate and Environment, UNICEF

Session Two: Sharing and Discussing the Children's Climate Risk Index - December 13, 2022

The second session shared an overview of UNICEF's Children's Climate Risk Index (CCRI), a breakdown of its methodology, and opportunities for participants to discuss the risks for children in their own contexts, moving from policy to implementation.

Presenters:

  • Swathi Manchikanti, Lead for Climate Adaptation, Healthy Environments for Healthy Children Programme, UNICEF
  • Nicholas Rees, East Asia and Pacific Programme Manager, Climate and Environment, UNICEF

Session Three: Impact of Heat Stress on Newborn Health Outcomes - February 13, 2023

In honor of the annual Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week, this session discussed how heat stress is a worrying contributing factor and what can be done to protect pregnant women and infants against it. Extreme heat has been documented as contributing to congenital health disease, which is already the most common birth defect and increases mortality significantly in the first year of life.

Presenters:

  • Dr. Shao Lin, Professor and Graduate Director, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York
  • Dr. Shabnam Peyvandi, Pediatric Cardiologist, Co-Director, Healthy Hearts and Minds Program, University of California San Francisco
  • Swathi Manchikanti, Climate Adaptation for Health Lead, Healthy Environments for Healthy Children, UNICEF
  • Dr. Caradee Wright, Chief Specialist Scientist, Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council

Guest Moderators:

  • Bistra Zheleva, Vice President of Global Strategy and Advocacy, Children’s HeartLink

Session Four: Protecting Children and Pregnant Women from Heat Stress, Possible Interventions and Recommendations - March 29, 2023

This session built on the evidence from previous heat stress sessions to start exploring what can be done by communities and primary healthcare to mitigate, quickly identify and treat heat-related illnesses. 

Presenters:

  • Dr. Ana Bonell, Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Clinical Fellow
  • Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, Aga Khan University & SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, Founding Director AKU Institute for Global Health & Development
  • Swathi Manchikanti, Climate Adaptation for Health Lead, Healthy Environments for Health Children, UNICEF
  • Dr. Cecilia Sorensen, Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia Irving Medical Center 

Session Five: Climate Effects on Malaria Programming for Children - May 3, 2023

This session focused on how extreme weather events, heat and other climatic variables have affected malaria transmission and programming, using Senegal as a case study.

Presenters:

  • Dr. Aboubacar Sadou, MD, DTM&H, MSPH, Resident Advisor, President's Malaria Initiative, USAID/Senegal
  • Dr. Radina Soubiyanto, PhD, Senior Data Scientist, US President's Malaria Initiative, USAID/DC
  • Swathi Manchikanti, Climate Adaptation for Health Lead, Healthy Environments for Health Children, UNICEF

Stay tuned for the announcements for future sessions (listed below).

Session Six: Vector-Borne Diseases - Climate and Arboviruses - June, 2023

Session Seven: Financing Climate Adaptation for Health Systems - July, 2023

Session Eight: Excessive Rains and Related Childhood Disease Burdens - August, 2023

Session Nine: Measuring Climate Adaptation - How to Know It's Going Well - September, 2023