TN Launches 'One Health and Climate Hub' to tackle health impacts of climate change

Following climate change, Tamil Nadu faces a range of challenges, including rising temperatures, zoonotic outbreaks, vector-borne diseases, coastal vulnerabilities, and biodiversity loss. These issues demand an integrated and proactive approach to safeguard the health of communities, especially vulnerable populations such as those in tribal, coastal, and high-risk areas.

The One Health and Climate Hub will focus on creating integrated strategies to address these challenges. The key activities proposed in the hub are:

-The hub will formulate comprehensive policies and action plans to mitigate the health risks posed by climate change, particularly in vulnerable communities. It will also work on establishing robust statewide surveillance and data systems to monitor climate-sensitive diseases and develop early warning mechanisms.

-The hub will strengthen data management and organize training programs/workshops on 'One Health' for healthcare workers, veterinarians, and environmental experts. It will also foster coordination between departments such as health, animal husbandry, environment and forests, and disaster management to ensure effective implementation of these initiatives.

-As part of this initiative, the Tamil Nadu Government will also retrofit hospitals with climate-resilient measures, such as solar panels and energy-efficient systems, to build a green healthcare infrastructure. Additionally, the government will collaborate with expert agencies to create frameworks for addressing the challenges of antimicrobial resistance.

The hub will collaborate with healthcare experts, research institutions, and epidemiologists to analyze historical data on disease outbreaks and correlate them with climate events. It will create and update a State-level database to track climate-sensitive diseases.

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