The Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization in Mongolia jointly organized a roundtable meeting on "Solutions for Health" on 22 December 2023.
The meeting was opened by Dr Enkhbold Sereenen, Vice Minister for Health, and Dr Socorro Escalante WHO Representative to Mongolia, and was attended by more than 50 representatives from the following ministries: health; environment and tourism; construction, urban and development; food and agriculture; energy; education, labor, and social welfare. The Office of the President; National Security Office, National Regulatory Committee for Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Systems, National Standardization and Measurement Office, National Water Authority, Center for Construction Development Center, UNHABITAT, Capital City Governor’s office and its affiliated organizations for health and environment also participated in the meeting.
The Solutions for Health initiative calls for an urgent multisectoral action to protect the health and well-being of the population by addressing, and to the extent possible eliminating the environmental risk factors that impact health.
Roundtable discussion on "Solutions for Health" on 22 December 2023 Photo credit: WHO Mongolia.
Healthy environments, including adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), clean air, safe use of chemicals, healthy and safe workplaces, sound agricultural practices, health-supportive cities, and built environments, among others are all prerequisites for good health. In 2016, an estimated 24% of deaths globally were due to modifiable environmental factors.
Similarly, like in other countries reducing the impact of environmental pollution and climate change is considered a major public health issue in Mongolia.
The Solutions for Health is an initiative jointly led by the Ministry of Health and WHO in partnership with other sectors to address the complex and structural issues on the environment and climate change that impact the health and well-being of the population. The initiative puts health at the forefront, as the most compelling argument for multisectoral action to clean the environment and mitigate the impact of climate change.
The Solutions for Health will serve as the convergence point of action across sectors to develop short, medium, and long-term solutions to protect health and reduce or eliminate the social and health burden attributable to environmental issues, including air pollution, lack of access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services, and housing.
Health solutions will advance the following programs and interventions:
- Strengthen national capacity for research and generation of evidence on vulnerabilities to and impact of climate change and environmental pollution on health to guide policy and the formulation of short and long-term interventions.
- Establish an innovation hub and build capacity for innovation, adoption, and dissemination of technologies around clean energy, housing, water, and sanitation that are sustainable and adaptable to the context of Mongolia.
- Build resilience of health systems to mitigate the impact of climate change and the environment (multi-hazard surveillance, regulations, standardization, capacity to manage diseases and health risks that are prevalent in Mongolia)
- Community empowerment and strengthening social capital to adopt and sustain solutions.
Media contacts:
Ministry of Health Mongolia
Enkhzul Togtokhbayar, Communication officer, Ministry of Health Mongolia, enkhzul.t@moh.gov.mn, 96121060