The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) is pleased to announce that Dr Marina Romanello will join Teach to Reach 19 to present the latest findings from the Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change.
Read the full announcement: Teach to Reach 19: Get the Lancet’s latest evidence of how climate change is harming the health of your community
The Lancet Countdown’s team has spent a decade tracking what climate change is doing to human health in every country.
At Teach to Reach, you will hear what they found, before most people have had time to read it.
Did you miss it? Catch up on our YouTube channel.
Here is a taste of the questions the report answers.
How many people does heat really kill?
Heat kills quietly.
Death certificates rarely say “heatwave.”
This year, the scientists set out to separate the deaths caused by heat from the deaths that would not have happened without climate change.
Their answer puts heat in the same conversation as diseases you treat every week.
At Teach to Reach, a clinical health worker in Australia described how easily a community forgets:
“Extreme heat and long heat waves de-motivate the entire community in both self-care and professional work. We experienced 40 days over 40 degrees centigrade last summer, then moved on as if it had not occurred.”
Bring your answer:
- What does the heat do to your patients, and to your own work for health?
- Do people in your community treat extreme heat as a hazard for their health?
Are drought and flood getting worse, or just getting more attention?
The report compares the last ten years with the decade that came before.
You will be surprised how fast things are moving, and what happens when one disaster follows another on the same land.
Korir Kelvin, a clinical health worker with the Ministry of Health in Laikipia County, Kenya, lived through a lot in a single year:
“In Laikipia County, Sosian Ward, a severe drought in early 2023 caused water shortages, hunger, and poor sanitation. Later, sudden heavy rains led to flash floods, contaminating water sources and causing outbreaks of cholera and typhoid. Many people, especially children, pregnant women, and the elderly, suffered from dehydration, malnutrition, and diarrheal diseases. The local health center helped by providing ORS (oral rehydration salts), antibiotics, and IV fluids, but it struggled with limited supplies and poor road access due to flooding. Many people couldn’t reach the facility in time. A borehole would provide clean water year-round, preventing waterborne diseases. A tarmacked road would ensure faster access to healthcare, saving lives during emergencies.”
In Brazil, a public health professional saw drought turn into fire, and fire into sick children:
“In the Pantanal, there was an increase in the number of heat hotspots (fire outbreaks) in 2024, caused by drought in the region. With the increase in fires, air quality worsened and respiratory diseases increased, mainly in children under five and adults over sixty.”
Bring your answer:
- Has your community faced drought and flood in the same year?
- What happened at your facility?
Who pays to protect health from climate change?
The Lancet Countdown follows the money.
It compares what countries say they need to protect people’s health, what they actually receive, and what governments spend elsewhere.
The comparison is hard to forget.
Júlio Mondlane, a humanitarian worker in Mozambique, knows what the gap looks like on the ground:
“When the health infractures gets destroyed by cyclones or gets flooded, it is challengeable to fix them on time as per the lack of means, including financial, and this situation may impact directly to the people as they cannot be provided with the quality health services.”
Bring your answer: When the weather turns, what do you or your community end up paying for yourselves?
Do early warnings actually save lives?
Many countries now say they have health early warning systems.
The Lancet Countdown looks for evidence that they make a difference when the storm or the flood arrives.
Luis Guzmán, a clinical health worker in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico, described what happens without one:
“Four years ago, a tropical storm brought a large amount of rain. The communities behind the hills could not evacuate during the night and lost all their belongings, crops and animals. Cases of acute diarrhoeal disease increased. Timely information from state authorities, the establishment of shelters and urban planning could have minimised the effects of the torrential rains.”
A health researcher in Ethiopia saw what happens with one:
“In Ethiopia, a predictive AI model was integrated into a mobile app to provide early warnings for droughts and floods. This helped farmers adapt by adjusting planting schedules and securing water sources. I witnessed how timely climate information reduced health risks, especially for children and pregnant women vulnerable to malnutrition and waterborne diseases. Despite the success, challenges included limited smartphone access in rural areas and internet connectivity issues.”
Bring your answer:
Before the last flood or heatwave, did a warning reach you?
How did it turn out?
Who writes the science about your community?
Research on climate and health keeps growing.
But where is it done, who writes it, and does it look at what works?
This year, the Lancet Countdown quantifies this.
- Does the research focus on the countries and communities where the vulnerabilities and impacts are highest?
- Do the researchers come from affected communities and countries?
- How much of the research is about local responses led by health workers?
The answers are likely to explain why your experience matters so much.
Mohammed Aliye, a humanitarian worker in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, has watched a disease climb into places it never used to reach:
“The regions previously known as the highlands are currently facing significant challenges due to malaria and a declining water table, which continues to drop each year. This has led to a dramatic shift in agricultural practices, with many areas now seeing a transition to mid-highland crops. These environmental changes are having a profound impact on farming and livelihoods in the affected zones.”
A clinician in Colombia has seen the same thing in the cities:
“In cities, the effect of climate change is reflected in a higher incidence of respiratory problems in children. The increase in temperature has led to the presence of vector-borne diseases (dengue, malaria, chikungunya) in areas that did not have the vector.”
Bring your answer:
- What have you noticed before anyone wrote about it?
- What have you tried that worked?
What comes next?
At Teach to Reach, we will explore what the Countdown’s findings could mean for the communities you serve, and how to prepare.
Request your invitation to meet, network, and learn at Teach to Reach with the Lancet Countdown’s Marina Romanello.