Technical Panels

Technical panels at the Commonwealth Health Ministers’ Meeting 2009

The panels will bring together representatives of member governments, international organisations, academics, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the private sector and civil society.

Panel 1: Conducting Vulnerability Assessments of climate change health risks

This session will explore the process of conducting robust assessments of climate change health risks, enabling countries to prepare adaptation strategies. The session will also discuss designing climate change and health adaptation strategies to respond to these findings, highlighting good practice and key challenges. The session will also identify what technical guidelines are available for this.

Proposed speaker: Professor Anthony McMichael, Australian National University

Discussant: Representative from Maldives (tbc)

Moderator: Representative from WAHO (tbc)

Panel 2: Implementing adaptation strategies and implementation challenges

This session will discuss how national adaptation plans can be implemented, highlighting key challenges and solutions – such as funding adaptation plans and financial assistance available, and the need for inter-sectoral cooperation.

Proposed speaker: Representative from Kenya

Discussant: Representative from Mc Kinsey (tbc)

Moderator: Representative from Bangladesh (tbc)

Panel 3: Achieving health co-benefits in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

This session will discuss the key messages that Health Ministries could convey to their national governments and other ministries regarding the economic arguments for ensuring that health is considered in national plans for mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The session will highlight the need for health to play a central role in national climate change discussions and discuss how this can be achieved.

Speaker: Professor Sir Andrew Haines, Director, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Discussant: Sir George Alleyne, Director Emeritus, PAHO/WHO

Moderator: representative from India (tbc)

Panel 4: The Global framework on climate change and health

This session will provide an overview of global initiatives on health and climate change, and discuss what technical and financial assistance is available for countries to develop their adaptation plans. The session could also discuss the Climate Change and Health Resolution being presented at the World Health Assembly and the work of the World Health Organisation in this field.

Speaker: Dr Maria Neira, Director, Dept. for Public Health and Environment, WHO

Discussant: Representative from Samoa (tbc)

Moderator: Representative from Commonwealth Secretariat

Margaret Chan, Director General, World Health Organisation, will have an open dialogue with Ministers to discuss health issues.

The Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Health (CACH) will update the Meeting on the current and future work programme of the Health Section, and its recommendations for the Secretariat’s health portfolio.

The Meeting will prepare a Ministerial Statement to be sent to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009.