EGPAF Youth Perspectives on Planetary Health
"Human health and the health of the planet are inextricably linked," says Matsotang Masola, a youth HIV advocate and climate change committee member of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. "This concept of planetary health is helping people understand that we must care for our environment if we want to effectively care for human health."
As industrialization and irresponsible use of natural resources ramped up in the last century, both the environment and human health have taken a toll - more and more people are finding that their soil, waterways, and air have toxic pollutants in them. The long-term impact of higher concentrations of greenhouse gasses from industrialization are slowly warming the planet, changing weather patterns and increasing the frequency and unpredictability of severe weather, such as droughts, cyclones, and heavy precipitation. Downstream, these changes are impacting human lives. Those who rely on farming or fishing are losing harvests to disease and poor conditions, sometimes pushed into poverty.
Despite young people having contributed the least damage to the environment, their future is the most at risk. Here are the perspectives of just a few young people who are deeply connected both to the fight against HIV and the fight for a sustainable future:
Emish Ondiek
"A ruined planet cannot sustain human lives in good health. A healthy planet and healthy people are two sides of the same coin hence the health of each of us is connected to the health of our planet. Let's make eureka steps on climate change. "
"Planetary health is how safe and long the earth can sustain good health of her occupants."
"Since climate change advocacy started, many went on planting trees, not considering what made them cut the trees in the first place. I believe that even though we bring in new measures to save our planet, we should advocate for keeping all the things that kept our planet safe in the olden days like the forests, bushes, use natural resources rather than go for modern that will need more industries which will in turn release gases, restore our rivers from pollution, use bicycles etc."
Emish Ondiek is a member of EGPAF's Committee of African Youth Advisors, a Youth Advocate for young people living with HIV, and the founder of PAZA 4 YOUTH C.B.O, a youth network that organizes regular mentorship and professional development for young people in Kenya, including those living with HIV.
Matsotang Mosola
"This year particularly, we've seen people suffer with their produce and this has been due to heavy and unexpected rain because not only do people live off of their produce, but they also depend financially off of whatever it is that they are growing. And remember, that with adolescents, some of them are breadwinners while others are cultivating as a hobby maybe, but the bottom line is that poor environmental health is going to affect them mentally, financially, health-wise. It means there's no good results there."
"I think maybe more capacity building is needed to help encourage behavior change, and also aligning scientific knowledge with indigenous knowledge. We are dealing with urban and rural communities, so we need to find a way to balance the messaging and ensure the conversation and solutions are inclusive."
Matsotang Mosola is a Youth Advocate for People Living with HIV for EGPAF-Lesotho and is a member of EGPAF's Climate Change Committee.
Joshua Oliyo
"Where I live, we are a fishing and cultivating community. But with climate change we are not able to do a lot of fishing, and we are also not able to do a lot of agriculture. That means for us that we end up being dependent on subsidies from different organizations."
"Personally, I am really concerned because I care for young people. I champion their rights. I champion their issues. I champion their concerns. And so, I'm really concerned because if you are not able to economically grow because of climate change, that means we are depreciating our productivity. And that's why I'm personally attached."
"We must address climate change, but we must do so holistically and with new funding. Otherwise, if funding is just shifted from other existing initiatives, it may come from projects that are essential in successful care and treatment for young people living with HIV. We are noticing that as funders shift priorities, and we feel that sometimes young people are being left out. Instead, health and climate change must both be addressed, not one or the other."
"We need to invest more in terms of scientific research relating to climate change effects so that we can empower the community members to get to know how to mitigate climate change from their various perspectives."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Joshua Olio is a Board Chair of the National Network of Young People Living with HIV in Kenya (Y+ Kenya), National Coordinator for Sauti Skika Adolescents & Young People Network, and a member of Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's Committee of African Youth Advisors (CAYA)
Faith Mang'ehe
"Sustainability means preserving the present for future years. For example, when I preserve this water, or don't pollute this source of water, many generations can use it later."
"At our school we didn't have clean water, which was new for me, as my last school had ample clean water. When I got there, I didn't want to get sick! So I am interested in providing good water, because if there is no good water, people will be sick, and they can't learn. I talked to my school principal about this, and I talked to many people in my community about this. I hope that now that there is advocacy, we are starting a water harvesting project, and things will get better."
Faith Mang'ehe is an 18 years old EGPAF Ambassador from Tanzania. She wants to become an interior designer and entrepreneur.
