Road to Net Zero in Kenya: ENBEL took part in training of health workers
Climate change impacts health globally, but people in low- and middle-income countries are the most vulnerable. Mitigation and adaptation measures are needed urgently because delay in acting on this global health threat will disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged around the world.
By Caroline Muthoni, Aga Khan University
On 14 June ENBEL project partnered with the Ministry of Health in Kenya to train public health workers on how to use the AKDN Carbon Management Tool. Developed by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), the AKDN Carbon Management Tool is a tool that was designed for, and is in use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, to calculate and track the carbon footprint of healthcare operations and to use this information to build and track progress of actions to reduce those emissions. The tool is also endorsed by the World Health Organization. Find out more.
In Kenya, the government has several initiatives aimed at tackling the impacts of climate change on health in the country. Additionally, during the Conference of Parties in Glasgow (COP 26) in 2021, the Kenyan government made several commitments to its citizens as part of the COP 26 health programme initiatives. One of the commitments made included developing a health system that is sustainable with low carbon emissions, specifically, to carry out a baseline assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of the health system and healthcare facilities, including supply chains and publish an action plan, which sets out how to develop a sustainable low carbon health system and be net zero by 2030.
Actions related to these commitments have delayed significantly mostly due to limited resources and Kenya is falling behind on achieving these targets within the set timelines and there is need for expedited action.
Currently, the Ministry of Health (MoH) priorities on climate change and health action revolve around actions towards achieving these commitments.
In order to develop a health system that is sustainable with low carbon emissions, the first action by the Ministry is to carry out a baseline assessment of current health facilities emissions.
To this effect, the ENBEL project partnered with the Ministry to train public health workers on how to use the AKDN Carbon Management Tool. This 1-day training was held on 14th June 2023 at Machakos county. 34 Ministry of Health Kenya Partners and Public Health Officers from 18 health facilities across the country attended the training.
The training was conducted by representatives from the Aga Khan Health Services and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The trainers explored the tool with the attendees and brought in people who have used the tool before in different countries to share their experience.
The next action by the Ministry is to follow-up the trained public health officers and ensure they use tool effectively in their facilities to get an estimated measurement of emissions from the selected facilities then scale up the exercise to the remaining counties in Kenya. After getting a national baseline measurement of emissions, the Ministry of Health will then develop action plans geared towards increased sustainability and achieving zero emissions in health facilities.
Partners within the private sector in climate and health in different countries should find ways to align their work with the national priorities and support policy makers on climate change and health actions for accelerated outcomes.