Minister of Health launch Climate Change and Nutrition Initiative (I-CAN) to prevent diseases

The initiative launched by the Minister of Health Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar,  in partnership with the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the "FAW" and a number of partner organizations and stakeholders.

The session activities were attended by Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization via video conference technology, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Director of the WHO Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean Countries, Maria Semedo, Deputy Director of FAO, and Maria Neira Director of Environment and Climate Change at the World Health Organization, Cubanan Koyasi, Minister of Agriculture of the State of Côte d'Ivoire, Vijay Rangarjan, Director-General of the British Foreign and Development Office, Dr. Naima Al Qasir, representative of the World Health Organization in Egypt, and a number of officials of countries supporting the Egyptian initiative and international organizations.

·         Supporting systems transition to healthy sustainable diets

The Minister of Health stressed the importance of the initiative to accelerate the pace of work in addressing the repercussions of climate change in countries of the world, which result in malnutrition.

The importance of the initiative lies in accelerating the pace of work in addressing the repercussions of climate change in countries of the world, which result in malnutrition. It also works to support the implementation of measures to deal with climate change and mitigate its effects, in addition to supporting systems of transition to healthy sustainable food systems.

·         An integrated approach to nutrition and climate change

Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar affirmed Egypt's commitment to adopting an integrated approach to nutrition and climate change, reviewing the axes of the National Food and Nutrition Strategy 2023-2030, which has been recently updated, stressing that achieving food security is one of the most important priorities for working with that strategy.

·         Climate Change Policy

The Minister of Health aims to "take policy measures to deal with climate change, mitigate its effects, improve nutrition, and work on healthy and sustainable diets", which is one of the most important objectives of the eight axes of the strategy.

The Minister of Health indicated that the "COP27" conference provides a great opportunity to interact with various issues related to climate change, unify efforts and open up horizons for discussion and consultations, stressing the common interest among the concerned authorities in confronting climate change.

The Minister of Health emphasized the concern of the concerned authorities about the food file, noting that the losses that result from food insecurity, especially malnutrition, and the economic losses it causes to societies.

·       Affects climate change on food security

He pointed out that climate change affects food security and nutrition, as global crop productivity is expected to decrease by 15% by 2050, which will affect the increase in food prices. These priorities are in an integrated manner, in cooperation with international partners to enhance food security and adapt to climate change.

It should be noted that the impact of food insecurity on the quality of meals leads to eating foods that are insufficiently rich in nutrients, unlike the impact of climate change on the nutritional content of many basic crops such as wheat and rice, due to its impact on agricultural crops.

Accelerate implementation of the Climate Action Initiative

The Minister of Health indicated that he seeks to accelerate the implementation of the Climate Action and Nutrition Initiative, to reduce anemia and stunting, raise international awareness about malnutrition, and urge governmental and non-governmental agencies to work by pledging to increase investment and support for the implementation of this initiative.