Environmental activist, Matthews Malata, says the country needs to address gaps that have emanated from air and water pollution and affected people’s health.
According to Malata, unsafe water is one of the issues that needs to be addressed and he urged the ministry of health and ministry of natural resources to strengthen their ties in order to achieve good health.
Malata said: “Climate change issues have an impact on people’s health for instance the recent Tropical Cyclone Ana has left people to access water from unclean sources a development which is likely to cause waterborne diseases”.
Malata was speaking as the country joins the global community to commemorate World Health Day which falls on April 7 annually and is being commemorated under the theme ‘Our Planet, Our health’.
Theme for this year aims to keep humans and the planet healthy and foster a movement to create societies more focused on well-being.
Meanwhile the ministry of health through its spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe, saiys air pollution has contributed to health problems such as cancer, asthma among other diseases.
Chikumbe stated that if the country reduces its carbon emissions it will help alleviate the challenges.
“Currently, the ministry is overwhelmed with cholera and polio outbreaks but we have organized a panel discussion on 7th April just to raise awareness on the day,” he said.
New data from the World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that almost 99% of the global population breathes air that exceeds WHO’s air quality limits and threatens their health.
