HEALTH MINISTER DELIVERS SPEECH AT WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Mongolia’s Minister of Health Ms N.Udval has delivered a speech themed “Climate change and health” at the sixty-seventh session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) which kicked off May 19 in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms Udval underlined an importance of having people and medical staffers gain knowledge and methods on preventing impact of climate change, on reducing risks and ways of adaptation. In the last 20 years, a frequency in Mongolia of natural disasters such as dzud, heavy winds, floods and droughts has increased five times, she noted. Over 80 percent of soil has been affected by droughts, 14 thousand square meters' areas have been affected by fires, moreover, one river or stream out of three has dried up, posing a danger of water shortage in the country, the Minister emphasized. She conveyed an appeal of the Mongolian President to the gathered to approve the Development Agenda beyond 2015 for ensuring water safety. The Mongolian leader Ts.Elbegdorj had sounded his appeal during a participation in the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.