TN govt forms committee to respond to climate-mediated diseases
In a government order dated July 23, department secretary P Senthil Kumar said that the ‘One Health and Climate Strategic Committee’ will have 23 members with the environment department secretary as the convener.
Illustration by Saai
CHENNAI: In a bid to comprehensively respond to climate-mediated diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya, the state Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department has constituted a strategic committee.
In a government order dated July 23, department secretary P Senthil Kumar said that the ‘One Health and Climate Strategic Committee’ will have 23 members with the environment department secretary as the convener. The committee has secretaries of health and family welfare department, agriculture and farmers welfare department, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries department, rural development and panchayat raj department, municipal administration and water supply department, housing and urban development department and other senior officials from various agencies as members.
Moreover, Soumya Swaminathan of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation and G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nabargal will also act as committee members.
“The Government of India has launched its National One Health Mission, aimed at creating an integrated approach to health that recognises the interconnection between human, animal and environmental health. This mission is a response to the increasing threat of zoonotic diseases and the need for a holistic approach to prevent and manage health crises,” the order said.
During the first meeting of Tamil Nadu Government Council on Climate Change held in March 2023, Chief Minister MK Stalin directed the Ministers of all the departments to examine and implement projects through the climate change lens and also pointed out the need for ‘One Health’ approach to deal with heat wave and new diseases, the order added.
The new committee will map all the ongoing disease surveillance programmes across the state apart from constituting technical subgroups tasked with conducting vulnerability and risk analysis of critical ecosystems, conducting technical cohort studies, building institutional capacity for climate change adaptation actions and organising training programmes for stakeholders.
“The state is proactive in addressing climate-mediated diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya, as well as implementing initiative to mitigate the impact of climate change, which can exacerbate the spread of these diseases,” the order said.