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
- Janie Morency, 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
Session Six: Vector-Borne Diseases - Climate and Arboviruses - June 15, 2023
This session focused on what arboviruses are, their effects on child and maternal health, how they are being affected by climate change, as well as some ideas for how we can strengthen primary healthcare in response to them.
Presenters:
- Dr. Kleber Giovanni Luz, Pediatrician and Infectious Disease Specialist, Associate Professor IV at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
- Dr. Sandra Mattos, Pediatric and Fetal Cardiologist, Medical Director of Maternal-Fetal Cardiac Unit at the Royal Portuguese Hospital, President of Heart Circle
- Dr. Jamie Caldwell, Associate Research Scholar, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University
Session Seven: Financing Health and Climate Adaptation - July 13, 2023
This session shared different opportunities to finance programs centered around child health and climate change that are necessary to provide sustainable solutions for communities.
Presenters:
- Regina Bures, Senior Scientific Advisor, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Dr. Rebecca Carter, Adaptation Lead, World Resources Institute
Session Eight: Communicating Health and Climate Adaptation - August 22, 2023
This session touched on what makes climate messaging effective, available resources on communicating climate change as it relates to health, and different methods of community engagement in climate action led by health professionals.
Presenters:
- Omnia El Omrani, MD, COP27 President Youth Envoy and Policy Fellow Imperial College London
- Edward Maibach, MPH, PhD, Distinguished University Professor & Director, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication
- Liz Purchia, Communications Director, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment
Session Nine: How Early Warning Systems Can Improve Climate-Responsive Healthcare Approaches - October 13, 2023
During this session, expert panelist will share tangible examples of how they are supporting the development and use of early warning systems in India and other countries in the region.
Presenters:
- Kaushik Sarkar, Inaugural Director, Institute for Health Modeling and Climate Solutions
- Abhiyant Tiwari, Lead Health & Climate Resilience, Natural Resources Defense Council India
The panelists of the heat stress webinars and the facilitators together developed a short but helpful list of key selected resources as part of a Heat Stress Resource Pack that can help you quickly read up on the impact of heat stress on maternal, infant, and child populations and also see examples of plans and guidelines currently being implemented in healthcare settings across countries.