Health
Six climate measures could save 1.6 million lives yearly – WHO
Six proven climate and health interventions could prevent 1.6 million deaths annually and generate trillions of dollars in economic benefits if implemented globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed.
The measures, which include heat-health warning systems, access to safe water and sanitation, cleaner household energy and more efficient fossil fuel pricing policies, could generate $3.9 trillion in annual economic welfare benefits and a further $5.4 trillion in fiscal gains.
The WHO disclosed this in a new report titled ‘Global benefits and costs of prioritised actions on climate change and health’, released ahead of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), where countries are expected to present their climate commitments.
According to the report, the six interventions could prevent one in every 40 deaths globally, based on modelled projections, while avoiding 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
The estimated emissions reduction is equivalent to 31 per cent of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, excluding emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry.
The report, which the WHO described as its first comprehensive assessment of the economic and fiscal returns from scaling up the six recommended interventions, highlights the potential health and financial gains of integrating public health considerations into climate policies.
It argues that many health consequences of climate change are preventable through existing solutions, but governments must implement them across health and other sectors that determine people’s health.
Six interventions
The report identifies six interventions: heat-health warning systems, climate-resilient drinking-water services, basic sanitation services, hygiene and handwashing facilities, cleaner household fuels and technologies for cooking and heating, and efficient fossil fuel pricing policies.
The WHO estimates that five of the interventions could generate $24 in benefits for every $1 invested, with returns expected to be greater in low- and middle-income countries.
Heat-health warning systems are projected to deliver particularly high returns, generating an estimated $835 in benefits for every $1 invested.
The report attributes the high returns to the relatively low cost of expanding existing warning systems and their potential to prevent heat-related illnesses.
Efficient fossil fuel pricing policies, however, are projected to deliver the largest overall gains.
Such policies, including removing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and appropriately taxing fossil fuels, could prevent 1.2 million deaths annually while generating $3 trillion in economic welfare benefits and $5.4 trillion in fiscal gains.
Health at the centre of climate action
Commenting on the findings, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said the climate crisis was also a health crisis, but many of its consequences could be prevented using existing interventions.
READ ALSO: WHO raises alarm as 75% of diabetes cases in Africa remain undiagnosed
He said expanding proven and affordable interventions could save millions of lives, particularly in countries with the greatest need.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis, but much of the harm it causes can be prevented with tools we already have,” he said.
Mr Ghebreyesus urged governments to place health considerations at the centre of climate action as they prepare for the next round of international climate negotiations.
The WHO said countries were already experiencing record-breaking climate shocks in 2026, investing in measures that protect human health and the environment increasingly urgent.
The health body called on governments, development partners and financing institutions to use the economic evidence to scale up the interventions, noting that they could deliver simultaneous benefits for public health, climate mitigation and national economies.
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Nigeria has pledged to provide five million pairs of reading spectacles and 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027 as part of efforts to expand access to eye care services nationwide.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, announced the commitments at the Global Summit for Eye Health held in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, on 2 November.
Mr Salako, who delivered the closing address at the summit, said the federal government would also train 15,000 primary healthcare workers and integrate primary eye care services into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
He said the commitments formed part of Nigeria’s efforts to eliminate avoidable vision loss and expand access to quality eye care, particularly among vulnerable populations.
According to him, the government is targeting more than 25 million vulnerable Nigerians, especially women, older people and residents of underserved rural communities.
Nigeria’s eye health targets
Mr Salako said Nigeria would also work to increase its active eye care workforce by 20 per cent and raise its national Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) by 30 percentage points by 2030.
He said the government would mobilise domestic public and private sector resources and collaborate with Commonwealth and international partners to ensure the commitments translate into measurable progress.
Mr Salako said Nigeria’s approach would build on the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria, also known as JigiBola 2.0, which draws inspiration from the JigiBola programme introduced in Lagos State about 25 years ago.
He recalled volunteering as a young medical officer during the original programme, which provided free eye screening, spectacles and cataract surgeries.
Mr Salako said the initiative was now being expanded through a national programme to improve access to eye care.
Elimination of cataract blindness
Mr Salako said one of the major outcomes of the summit was a commitment to eliminate cataract-related blindness through the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Cataract Surgery Initiative, known as SEE 2045.
He said Nigeria was among the beneficiary countries under the initiative, alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Tanzania and China.
According to him, the initiative makes cataract elimination the second global elimination target for a non-communicable disease in WHO history.
He urged participating countries to demonstrate that expanding access to quality cataract surgery, including in rural communities, was achievable.
Mr Salako also called for proper documentation of successes and outcomes to enable countries to share implementation strategies and address the backlog of cataract surgeries.
He said avoidable vision loss had consequences beyond individual health, affecting education, household income, road safety and national productivity.
“When a child cannot see the chalkboard, or an artisan or farmer is blinded by cataracts or uncorrected refractive errors, an entire community pays the price,” he said.
Global partnerships
Mr Salako said the summit secured $60 million in philanthropic commitments to support assistive technology, alongside 15 private-sector commitments valued at more than $468 million to accelerate eye care implementation.
READ ALSO: Nigeria needs N104bn yearly for health security plan – NCDC
He added that organisations had made about 143 other commitments beyond those made by governments.
Mr Salako said the commitments demonstrated the importance of partnerships between governments, the private sector, philanthropic organisations and international development partners in improving global eye health.
He called on participating countries to sustain the momentum generated at the summit and ensure that the commitments translated into tangible improvements for people living with avoidable vision loss.
“Let us return to our respective nations as champions of sight, holding ourselves accountable to the millions who are waiting not for miracles, but for a pair of glasses, a timely referral, or a fifteen-minute surgical intervention that can restore their world,” he said.
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Health
Health Review: Ebola case, child malnutrition, medicine security, other developments that shaped October
October brought major developments across Nigeria’s health sector, with the confirmation of an Ebola case in Abuja prompting renewed disease surveillance, contact tracing and emergency response measures.
The month also saw growing concerns over Nigeria’s dependence on imported pharmaceutical ingredients, child malnutrition and challenges affecting maternal and child healthcare.
Beyond Nigeria, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continued to raise concerns about regional health security.
PREMIUM TIMES reviews some of the major health developments that shaped October.
Nigeria confirms first Ebola case in over a decade
Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case since 2014 on 20 October, involving a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman living in Abuja who recently returned from Uganda.
The confirmation prompted contact tracing, heightened surveillance and infection prevention measures across healthcare facilities.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) initially identified 44 close contacts, with the number increasing as investigations continued.
Ebola patient evacuated to Switzerland
Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola patient and her husband were medically evacuated to Switzerland on 26 October after the patient received treatment in isolation in Abuja.
The patient was transferred to Geneva University Hospitals, while her husband was placed in isolation at University Hospital Zurich.
Following the evacuation, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Nigeria had no active confirmed Ebola case, although surveillance and monitoring of exposed contacts continued.
NCDC expands health declarations for international travellers
The NCDC expanded the health declaration requirement to all international travellers after confirming Ebola in Abuja.
The agency said the measure was intended to strengthen screening at points of entry and support the early identification of potential infections.
It also urged healthcare facilities to isolate suspected cases promptly and strengthen infection prevention measures.
Suspected Ebola cases in Adamawa test negative
Two suspected Ebola cases identified in Adamawa State tested negative after two rounds of laboratory testing, the NCDC announced on 31 October.
The suspected cases involved a 34-year-old pilot and his wife, a medical doctor, who were admitted to an isolation facility at the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital in Yola after developing symptoms suggestive of Ebola.
The agency said the Abuja case remained Nigeria’s only laboratory-confirmed Ebola infection during the outbreak.
FG clarifies N10 billion emergency disease response funding
The NCDC said the N10 billion emergency intervention fund approved by the federal government was intended to strengthen preparedness and response to Ebola, Lassa fever and other emerging infectious diseases.
The agency explained that the funding would support surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, protective equipment, emergency operations and rehabilitation of isolation facilities.
The clarification came amid questions over how the emergency allocation was being utilised following the confirmation of Ebola in Abuja.
Child malnutrition admissions rise in North-east
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported an 18 per cent increase in malnutrition admissions at 10 supported health facilities in North-east Nigeria.
The facilities recorded nearly 20,000 admissions between January and September 2026, compared with about 17,000 during the same period in 2025.
Children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers were among those most affected, highlighting the continuing impact of insecurity and food shortages on vulnerable communities.
FG partners US foundation to mobilise $1 billion against malnutrition
The federal government announced a partnership with the US-based Operation End Starvation initiative to mobilise more than $1 billion to address child malnutrition and starvation-related deaths across sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria was identified as a priority country under the initiative, which aims to mobilise funding over two years.
The government said the partnership would complement existing interventions addressing hunger and acute malnutrition among children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
Imported drug ingredients raise medicine security concerns
Health and pharmaceutical stakeholders warned that Nigeria’s dependence on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) could undermine medicine security and expose the country to global supply disruptions.
At a meeting organised by Nigeria Health Watch in partnership with the World Bank Group, stakeholders called for increased domestic production of essential pharmaceutical ingredients.
They identified inadequate infrastructure, unreliable electricity, financing constraints and regulatory challenges as major barriers to local manufacturing.
WHO warns of widespread undiagnosed diabetes in Africa
The WHO raised concerns over the growing diabetes burden in Africa, warning that about 75 per cent of people living with the condition in the region remain undiagnosed.
The organisation said an estimated 24.6 million adults aged between 20 and 79 were living with diabetes in the African region.
The findings renewed concerns about limited screening, delayed diagnosis and access to treatment for non-communicable diseases.
Ebola outbreak worsens in DR Congo
The Ebola outbreak in the DRC continued to spread during October, with confirmed cases surpassing 10,000 and deaths approaching 5,000.
The WHO reported 10,274 confirmed cases and 4,992 deaths in the country as of 28 October.
The outbreak, which also affected other African countries, intensified concerns about cross-border transmission, surveillance capacity and regional preparedness.
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