Climate Change, Sustainable Health and COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria: The Legal Issues in Perspective

The paper examined legal impediments to sustainable health in Nigeria due to the impact of climate change (CC) exacerbated by coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 has presented the world with a crisis greatly accentuated by the urgency with which we need to fight the CC debacle, making the need for sust...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Erimma Gloria Orie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-06-01
Series:Medical Sciences Forum
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9992/19/1/7
Description
Summary:The paper examined legal impediments to sustainable health in Nigeria due to the impact of climate change (CC) exacerbated by coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 has presented the world with a crisis greatly accentuated by the urgency with which we need to fight the CC debacle, making the need for sustainable development (SD) more obviously acute than ever and requiring a response rooted in the principles of SD. On 29 September 2020, a total of 1 million COVID-19 deaths had occurred worldwide, while in Africa, there were about 35,954 cumulative fatalities. In Nigeria, the situation was similar. This paper found that despite the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, health is still a low priority in Nigeria; 4.526 percent of the country’s budget was appropriated to the health sector in 2021 and 4.3 percent in 2022, contrary to the 2001 Abuja Declaration by African leaders and the 15 percent value stipulated by the WHO. The challenge is that Nigeria’s efforts in attaining sustainable health and eradication of COVID-19 are arbitrary and have been hampered by the absence of tested laws on CC andCOVID-19, thereby resulting in avoidable fatalities. Using analytical research methodology and drawing from global best practices to achieve sustainable health, this paper recommended the incorporation of legal and institutional frameworks to combat COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
ISSN:2673-9992