The phrase “public health emergency” used to mean a sudden viral outbreak or a localized crisis. Today, as made starkly clear by the discussions at COP 30 in Belém, it means the relentless, intensifying reality of extreme weather. The climate crisis is no longer an abstract environmental threat; it is a full-blown medical crisis, with heat, floods, and droughts acting as frontline killers.

As WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on the eve of the conference, “If our planet were a patient, it would be admitted to intensive care.” This sentiment underscored the launch of the Belém Health Action Plan, a flagship outcome of Brazil’s COP 30 presidency, which aims to put health at the heart of global climate action, finally.

The Core Warning from COP 30: Africa in the Crosshairs

The most urgent scientific warning emerging from the COP 30 discussions centers on Africa, where the immediate threats of rising temperatures are disproportionately severe.

  • Heat as a Life-Threatening Stressor – The COP30 Special Report on Health and Climate Change from the WHO and the Brazilian Government noted that over 540,000 people die from extreme heat each year globally. Africa, which is warming at a slightly faster rate than the global average (WMO, State of the Climate in Africa report), is experiencing a surge in deadly heatwaves and prolonged droughts.
  • Infrastructure Collapse – The special report delivered a chilling statistic: one in every 12 hospitals worldwide is at risk of climate-related shutdowns. This risk could double by mid-century without rapid decarbonization. In Africa, where up to 100,000 health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa lack reliable electricity, this infrastructure vulnerability means essential services will fail precisely when communities need them most during a heatwave or a flood.
  • A Financial Burden – African countries are already losing 2–5 percent of their GDP annually to climate impacts and are being forced to divert up to 9 percent of their budgets to respond to climate extremes. The cost of adaptation alone in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be between US$30–50 billion annually over the next decade. This diverts vital funds from routine public health programs.

Why the Heat is a Trigger for Cascading Health Disasters

The heat or extreme temperatures do not typically kill directly; they trigger a cascade of secondary crises that can be extremely bad for human health. Reports released at COP 30 confirmed that climate change is actively spreading infectious diseases to new regions.

  • Climate-Amplified Diseases: A report from the Climate Amplified Diseases and Epidemics consortium, presented at COP 30, detailed how deadly illnesses like West Nile virus, dengue, and chikungunya are spreading to new regions in Africa due to shifting temperatures and rainfall patterns.
  • Floods and Outbreaks: Extreme weather events like floods create ideal conditions for pathogens like Vibrio cholera, causing cholera outbreaks, and enhance breeding sites for vectors. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), present at COP 30, described being an “eyewitness to the human cost,” noting that even simple health recommendations, like staying hydrated, become impossible for millions without access to safe, potable water.
  • Vulnerability Gaps: The WHO/Brazil report highlighted glaring gaps in planning, noting that only 54% of national health adaptation plans assess risks to health facilities, and only 20% consider gender disparities. Effective adaptation requires actively involving communities in designing solutions, a key principle of the Belém Action Plan’s emphasis on health equity and ‘climate justice’.

The Call for Action: Delivering on the Belém Plan

The message from COP 30 is a firm call to immediately pivot to resilience. The conference saw the launch of a US$300 million funding package for climate and health research by a coalition of philanthropies, recognizing the critical financial gap.

The Belém Health Action Plan lays out a blueprint for a global shift, urging countries to,

  1. Build Climate-Resilient Health Systems – Designing health facilities to withstand climate shocks and power them with renewable energy to prevent shutdowns.
  2. Mobilize Finance and Technology – Calling for greater support to implement early warning systems that link meteorological and health data to predict heatwaves or disease outbreaks before they overwhelm communities.
  3. Ensure Equity and Participation – Guaranteeing that the needs of the most vulnerable are addressed in all climate adaptation policies, which African nations, facing the brunt of the crisis, have championed by calling for special recognition of their “special needs and circumstances”.

The evidence is overwhelming, and the climate crisis is a public health emergency here and now. We all have a responsibility to take action today. Do not wait for your regional or local government to lead the way, in your own way, take a step forward. Cut down the use of fossil fuels, use your social media to join advocacy campaigns, and if possible, donate or volunteer with an organisation working to ensure we have a future that isn’t plagued with diseases we could have tried to prevent.