Pretoria - Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi will this evening jet off to Windhoek, Namibia, to attend the fifth session of African Union (AU) Health Ministers' meeting to discuss the pressure placed on health care by climate change.
Held under the theme, "The impact of climate change on health and development in Africa", the meeting to take place on Thursday will be attended by health ministers and their senior officials from across the African continent, and its outcomes will be taken to the World Health Assembly to be held in Geneva next month.
"Some of the common consequences of climate change include increasing prevalence of many vector borne infectious diseases, which include malaria, dengue and encephalitis and the accompanying deaths from these diseases," the department said, noting that South Africa was one of the countries in the region still affected by many of these diseases.
Other issues expected to be discussed during the meeting include scaling up towards universal access to HIV and Aids prevention, treatment, care and support as well as acceleration of efforts to reduce maternal mortality. - BuaNews
