On September 25, 2026, Dr. Temitope Sogbanmu, Founder and Lead of Evidence Use in Environmental Policymaking in Nigeria (EUEPiN), called for urgent action to tackle climate change's impacts on Nigeria's fragile health system. At a two-day training in Abuja, Sogbanmu stressed the importance of timely, evidence-based data and robust cross-sector collaboration to mitigate these effects. She highlighted that climate change is a growing, cross-sectoral threat to health, requiring real-time data to drive effective policies.
Sogbanmu presented an overview of the Nigeria Climate Change and Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment Report, noting that climate change's adverse effects, such as severe heatwaves and coastal flooding, disproportionately affect vulnerable demographics. Women, children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals are among those bearing the heaviest brunt. She emphasized the critical need for gender mainstreaming in climate action to address these disparities.
According to Sogbanmu, recent reports project worsening health impacts due to climate change, with vulnerable populations being mostly affected. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made projections that are getting much worse. To effectively tackle these challenges, Sogbanmu advocated for a climate-resilient, evidence-informed health sector guided by current realities rather than outdated statistics.
Sogbanmu highlighted regional risks, noting that the North-West and North-East geopolitical zones are most susceptible to climate shocks, while coastal areas in the South face existential threats from rising sea levels. These crises present severe weaknesses for Nigeria's overstretched health sector, which is currently grappling with a massive brain drain of medical professionals.
Dr. Anna Ninsiima, a Gender Expert on the LEEPS Project at Makerere University, added a grassroots perspective to the advocacy. She spoke on the intersection of climate change, gender equity, and reproductive health, illustrating how climate-induced water scarcity directly hampers menstrual hygiene, particularly among adolescent girls. This leads to severe health complications and increased school dropouts.
Ninsiima noted that some young girls are forced into early marriages, early pregnancies, or transactional sex simply to afford sanitary products. She warned that developmental policies ignoring these grassroots realities are ultimately bound to fail. Ninsiima urged stakeholders to actively mainstream gender into evidence-informed policymaking, emphasizing that true equity requires a comprehensive understanding of community-level challenges.
The stakeholders' advocacy for evidence-informed policymaking comes as Nigeria faces increasing climate-related health challenges. The country's health sector is struggling to cope with the impacts of climate change, and experts argue that a more effective approach is needed to address these issues. By emphasizing the importance of timely data and cross-sector collaboration, stakeholders aim to mitigate the effects of climate change on Nigeria's health system.
Key points
- Climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable demographics in Nigeria, including women, children, and the elderly.
- Experts advocate for a climate-resilient, evidence-informed health sector guided by current realities.
- Gender mainstreaming is critical in climate action to address disparities in climate change impacts.
