Participants at a capacity-building workshop underway in Johannesburg have warned that worsening climate shocks are undermining healthcare systems across southern Africa, with women, adolescents, and vulnerable groups bearing the brunt. The Sadc Parliamentary Forum with the support of Sweden convened the workshop which began on Monday with a focus on strengthening parliamentary evidence-based policymaking by integrating the nexus between climate change, health, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Through interactive group discussions, delegates examined how droughts, floods, and heatwaves are disrupting SRHR service delivery and reviewed the extent to which national climate frameworks integrate health, gender, and SRHR.
Their feedback revealed fragile health systems under pressure, weak policy integration, and urgent need for parliamentary oversight. One group focusing on drought identified three major threats. First, budgets are being diverted away from SRHR to food relief, leaving communities without essential services.
It was also observed that water scarcity compromises hygiene in clinics, undermining the sterilisation of medical equipment and increasing the risk of infection. Participants also noted that extreme heat hampers patient mobility and medicine storage, limiting access and reducing the effectiveness of vaccines and drugs. “These combined pressures not only weaken health facilities but also deepen inequalities for women and girls,” one of the rapporteurs noted.
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Delegates also pointed to rising social and health risks during climate-related disasters. They said women and girls fetching water face heightened exposure to gender-based violence (GBV), while displacement and loss of livelihoods are fuelling early marriages and transactional sex, leading to unintended pregnancies. For expectant mothers, food insecurity and disrupted health services increase the likelihood of low birth weight and maternal mortality.
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