Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has commended African Governments for working collectively to devise response mechanisms to alleviate the climate crisis.

He was speaking during the official opening of the Climate and Health Africa Conference in Harare on Wednesday.

He said the effort was championing the establishment of the one health concept in Zimbabwe seeking to integrate and optimise human, animal, and ecosystem health.

"The Government of Zimbabwe, under the visionary leadership of the President, His Excellency Dr ED Mnangagwa is working towards the establishment of a National Public Health Institute," he said.

"The institute will strengthen coordination of one health and climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.

"It is gratifying to know that this approach will no doubt provide an enabling environment for all stakeholders on climate health to shy away from the traditional silo implementation approach that often leads to duplication of roles and operational inefficiencies."