The devastating floods in Pakistan are yet another manifestation of our changing climate. They have resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives and left more than one third of the country submerged. While monsoon rains and floods are normal phenomena, these floods were twice as high as the 30-year average.
Pakistan’s floods can be clearly linked to anthropogenic climate change. This change disproportionately affects the poorest, the most vulnerable and those least responsible for the changes they experience. The direct impact of climate change is now felt around the world with more frequent intense weather – storms, floods, droughts and record-high temperatures resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods, decreased food supplies and more widespread disease.
The effects of climate change on health are numerous. Beyond the direct mortality caused by excessive heat or floods, they cause disruption to health infrastructure, services and supply chains, impeding access to medical care and treatment.
In this changing climate, infectious disease outbreaks and the re-emergences of almost eradicated diseases, such as polio, are increasing. Decades of health gains are in jeopardy. Research suggests that the risk of disease transmission and emergence of infections from animal sources (including insect-borne diseases) is on the rise as ecosystems change, creating more favourable conditions for pathogens and their vectors to thrive. The transmission of malaria, for example, is expected to increase and to re-emerge at higher altitudes and latitudes as temperatures rise.
Without those most affected shaping and driving the agenda, we will not succeed in developing sustainable solutions
In Pakistan, one of the two remaining countries where wild polio remains endemic, the destructive flooding threatens the polio response – from immunisation campaigns through to essential environmental surveillance and monitoring, and exacerbates diseases such as malaria, dengue, cholera and Covid-19.
Neglected Tropical Diseases, a collection of 20 parasitic, bacterial, fungal and viral infections that affect more than 1.7 billion people, are expected to spread further, as they are directly influenced by changes in temperature, rainfall and relative humidity. An estimated 500 million more people could become exposed to mosquito-borne NTDs, such as chikungunya and dengue, as these diseases spread to new geographic locations. The risk of exposure to other diseases such as lymphatic filariasis is not yet understood. We need more research focused on the nexus of climate change and health to help inform disease elimination and eradication strategies.
The Global Institute for Disease Elimination – or Glide – a UAE-based global health institute, works to advance thinking and accelerate progress towards disease elimination by elevating awareness and engagement, advancing elimination strategies, and fostering and scaling innovation through partnership. As we look to Cop28, which the UAE will host in 2023, Glide is commissioning additional research through our Falcon Awards for Disease elimination and climate change, to better understand the intersections between climate change and health, especially as it relates to disease elimination and eradication targets. We will learn from others, putting countries and communities at the centre. Without those most affected shaping and driving the agenda, we will not succeed in developing sustainable solutions.
More on the Pakistan floods
As countries gather at the 77th UN General Assembly in New York, we must work together to find innovative solutions to the complex challenges that climate change is increasingly posing to our societies. International co-operation is essential to achieve shared goals and targets for people, planet and prosperity. The health of our current and future generations depends on taking action to reverse the drivers of climate change, to better understand the complex interrelationships between climate and health, to strengthen global health systems and to invest in new diagnostics and medicines.
Better-integrated healthcare programmes incorporating NTDs, malaria and other diseases, and ensuring facilities are resistant to climate shocks are needed now more than ever. The need to design climate-resilient health systems at the national, regional as well as global levels has never been more pressing.
The bold commitments made at Cop26 in Glasgow last year to limit global warming, reverse forest loss and end global use of fossil fuels cannot be achieved without strong partnerships, country-specific policy development and accountability mechanisms. We must increase the ambition and scope of global discussions on financing health systems. We can’t pause, we can’t let the lessons from Covid-19 go to waste. If we stand still on health care, we will go backwards. A changing climate, increasing drug resistance and new pathogens should all tell us that it is time to get on the front-foot and invest in the front line, the health systems around the world.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
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MATCH INFO
What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru
The specs: 2019 Audi A7 Sportback
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 335hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy 5.9L / 100km
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Founder: Ayman Badawi
Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software
Size: Seven employees
Funding: $170,000 in angel investment
Funders: friends
More on animal trafficking
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Tell Me Who I Am
Director: Ed Perkins
Stars: Alex and Marcus Lewis
Four stars
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
