NEWS

THE THEMATIC WORKSHOP


The National Center for Public Health and Analyses, together with the medical journal “Lancet”, the World Health Organization country office in Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Red Cross, organize thematic Workshop „The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change”.
The meeting will present the latest report by “Lancet” on the adverse effects of climate change on human health. The report is made up of 35 experts from leading global institutions and is annually presented at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (Conference of Parties - COP), as well as in thematic workshops in 40 countries around the world. The event is being organized for the first time in Bulgaria.
The focus of the meeting will be on opportunities for adaptation, planning and resilience of health systems to climate change. There will also be presentations by Bulgarian experts on the topic.

Purpose
Dealing with climate change requires the common efforts of politicians and the society, academy and media playing a mediate role in this process. This year around 30 events have been organized. This is the first Lancet Countdown event in Bulgaria and it brings the opportunity to engage audiences in the country in the connection between health and climate change. The purpose is to achieve a better political engagement of the health sector on climate change problem, to improve communication between the policymakers and academy, to increase the public awareness on topic.


Objectives
Climate change topic becomes more and more important for Bulgaria with the increasing number of extreme weather events during the last years, such as floods, droughts, heat waves and forest fires, with the spread of infectious diseases, etc. There is an need for deeper engagement of the health sector in the process of taking political measures for climate change adaptation and mitigation, both on governmental and local level.
The Lancet Countdown is an international, multi¬disciplinary collaboration, dedicated to monitoring the evolving health profile of climate change, and providing an independent assessment of the delivery of com¬mitments made by governments worldwide under the Paris Agreement. The report represents the findings and consensus of 35 leading academic insti¬tutions and UN agencies from every continent. The collaboration draws on the world¬ class expertise of climate scientists; ecologists; mathemati¬cians; engineers; energy, food, and transport experts; economists; social and political scientists; public health professionals; and doctors, to generate the quality and diversity of data required.
Each year the report is published annually in medical journal The Lancet ahead of the UN climate change negotiations. Its data makes clear how climate change is affecting our health, the consequences of delayed action and the health benefits of a robust response.