The Oyo State Government, through the Ministry of Health, has formally inaugurated the Oyo State Technical Working Group on Climate and Health as part of efforts to strengthen the state’s capacity to address the growing public health impacts of climate change.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, disclosed this in a statement released on Thursday and made available to newsmen in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Speaking at the inauguration held at the ministry’s conference room, Secretariat, Ibadan, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, said climate change was no longer a distant environmental concern but a major public health challenge with direct implications for the health and well-being of residents.
She highlighted that changing temperatures, rainfall patterns and other extreme weather events were already contributing to heat-related illnesses, flooding, drought, vector- and water-borne diseases, respiratory conditions, food insecurity and other health emergencies across the state.
“In Oyo State, we are already witnessing some of these effects through rising temperatures, irregular rainfall, flooding and environmental degradation, all of which have implications for the health and well-being of our people,” Ajetunmobi said.
