The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched a set of priority indicators to help countries track the health impacts of heat on pregnant women, newborns and children.
The first-ever new framework is designed to strengthen preparedness, improve monitoring, and accelerate response. These actions will help protect some of the populations most vulnerable to climate-related health risks, said the WHO press statement.
Studies continue to provide evidence that exposure to extreme heat can harm health from pregnancy to childhood, leading to a 26% increase in the odds of preterm birth.
Newborns are also increasingly exposed, with babies under one year of age experiencing 389% more heatwave days in 2024 compared with the 1986 to 2005 baseline period.
Globally, an estimated 1.5 billion children are exposed to heatwaves that are becoming more frequent, longer or more severe.
The new report recommends that countries monitor preterm births, stillbirths, low birthweight, pregnancy hypertension, child deaths and health-facility visits during extreme heat.
WHO is calling on countries to strengthen their ability to monitor and respond to its health impacts and also urges all countries to develop and implement heat-health action plans, it reads.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has confirmed one imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), becoming the fifth country to detect the virus since an outbreak of the disease was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 15 May 2026. Kenya has reported nine cases linked to an imported case in recent weeks.
