UN climate report ‘red alert’ for planet Action to address ‘long Covid’ urged
With one in 10 people still feeling ill 12 weeks after having Covid-19, authorities must do more to support them, a UN-backed policy brief issued argues.
The document summarizes what is known so far about “long Covid” and how countries are addressing the condition, whose troubling symptoms include severe fatigue and increased damage to the heart, lungs and brain.
The policy brief was published by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director, said long Covid is an extra cause for concern amid the pandemic, which has already caused immense suffering.
“It’s important that patients reporting with symptoms of long Covid are included as part of the Covid-19 response to mitigate some of the longer-term health impacts of the pandemic,” he said.
Long Covid is not fully understood, but available data indicate that roughly a quarter of people suffer from symptoms four to five weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus, and about one in 10 still experiences symptoms after 12 weeks.
Patients, who include medical professionals, struggle to be taken seriously. They report feeling stigmatized and unable to get a diagnosis, receiving “disjointed” care, while also facing problems in accessing health and disability benefits.
The policy brief highlights areas for action, including through developing “new care pathways,” creating appropriate services, and tackling wider consequences such as employment rights, sick pay policies and access to disability benefits.
Patient registers and other surveillance measures should be implemented, and research into post-Covid conditions must be conducted in collaboration with patients and care providers.
“Long Covid has demonstrated the importance of involving patients in research,” Dr. Selina Rajan, lead author of the policy brief, said.
Nations are “nowhere close” to the level of action needed to fight global warming, a United Nations (UN) climate action report said, urging countries to adopt stronger and more ambitious plans to reach the Paris Agreement goals, and limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, by the end of the century.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Initial NDC Synthesis Report measures the progress of national climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions or NDC, ahead of the 26th session of Conference of its Parties this November in Glasgow.
It found that even with increased efforts by some countries, the combined impact falls far short of what is needed.
“Today’s interim report from the UNFCCC is a red alert for our planet. It shows governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” secretary-general António Guterres said on the report’s findings.
Decision makers must walk the talk.
He said 2021 is a “make or break year” to confront the global climate emergency.
“The science is clear, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we must cut global emission by 45 percent by 2030, from 2010 levels,” he stressed.
The secretary-general called on major emitters to “step up with much more ambitious emissions reductions” targets for 2030 in their NDC highlighting that Covid-19 recovery plans offered the opportunity to “build back greener and cleaner.”
“Decision makers must walk the talk. Long-term commitments must be matched by immediate actions to launch the decade of transformation that people and planet so desperately need,” Guterres urged.
The UNFCCC report covered submissions from countries up to 31 December 2020, showing that 75 Parties to the Framework Convention communicated a new or updated NDC, representing approximately 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.