To help countries in Africa turn climate and weather information into real, everyday health protection and action, the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) - World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Climate and Health Joint Programme, has officially launched the first Africa Climate-Health Desk.
As extreme heat and other climate and health hazards intensify across the continent, the new initiative seeks to translate and transmit life-saving climate intelligence to reach health authorities, hospitals, communities and decision-makers who need it most.
The Africa Climate-Health Desk, a specialized unit hosted at ACMAD in Niamey, Niger, is the first of its kind at the regional level in Africa. It is the second one to be launched globally, after the South Asia Climate-Health Desk , as part of a comprehensive effort led by the WHO-WMO Joint Programme with funding from Wellcome and The Rockefeller Foundation .
"Climate change is reshaping health risks across Africa, challenging countries to stay one step ahead. Our real opportunity lies in anticipation: Africa cannot afford to wait for emergencies to unfold," said Ousmane Ndiaye, Director-General of ACMAD .
To date, the availability, access, and use of information about the weather and climate -and how it can be used to inform health planning and prevention - has been limited in Africa.
The Africa Climate-Health Desk will help close the long-standing gap between climate science and public health decision-making. It will scale up capacity, partnerships, and provide tailored climate information - like impact-based early warnings that signal when heat or other hazards begin to threaten people's health. This is essential for earlier and more effective prevention and response.
"We are taking another step toward ensuring that climate and health communities are better connected, better informed, speak the same language, and are equipped to better work together on concrete analytics and decision-support tools," said Joy Shumake-Guillemot, Head of the WHO-WMO Climate and Health Joint Programme.
"Ultimately, this means local leaders know what to do when severe weather warnings are issued; families know how to protect themselves from extreme heat and when to seek care; and health workers receive the right alerts so they can respond effectively. In short: earlier warnings, better planning, clearer advice, and faster local response."
