Expressing grave concern over the adverse effects of climate change on human health experts have called for inter-sectoral collaboration to minimise the risk of environmental degradation to save man kind from catastrophe.
These views were expressed by health experts at a seminar on "Protecting health from adverse effect of climate change in the Directorate General Health, Peshawar on Monday morning.
The seminar organised jointly by WHO and provincial Health department was addressed by Director Public Health, Dr Fazal Qayyum, Dr Alamgir, Dr, Muhammad Zaheen, Dr Abdul Gafoor and Dr Khalid Iqbal. Dr Saeed Akbar operation officer WHO read out message of the UN Secretary General on the occasion.
Dr Fazal Qayyum while highlighting affects of the environmental degradation informed that due to non-sustainable development and imprudent use of natural resources, the balance of ecosystem had been disturbed. "This unmanaged developmental activities have affected weather condition, rain fall distribution and caused air water and food contamination", he asserted.
Similarly, acid rain, drought, hurricanes, flood and disasters are the result of the man-made change in the environment. "The climate change has affected health by altering diseases pattern", he remarked. The expert urged the need of resources allocation for environmental protections, adoption of the principles of sustainable development and rationale use of the resources to avoid the threat.
Dr Muhammad Zaheen held responsible US, India and China for environmental degradation. He elaborated that due to climate change water and food resources were shrinking drastically "per capita water amount was 5,300 cubic metre in 1951 in Pakistan, now it has reduced to 1150 cm and the country will be the poorest one in water resources by 2025" he deplored.
He informed that only 55 per cent of the people of the country were having access to relatively safe drinking water. "Two third of the world population was faced with water shortage globally while 3.3 billion cases of illness and 5.4 billion deaths have been predicted due to the climate change globally per year " he maintained.