COVID-19 has just highlighted the already existing discrepancy between us and the environment, making apparent that whatever we do to the planet will eventually come back to us.  A new spike of infections is further disrupting life-saving health and social services, which are at the moment recovering from the initial impact of the virus. Even though the world had been aware of the risks of a global pandemic for many years, it has caught most of us unprepared.  There is a need for reinforcement within our societies and public health systems to better prepare for future shocks and support emergency preparedness and response. But most of all, there is a need for broader awareness and a mind-shift moving towards planetary health approaches.(3)

All hope in solving the current health crisis has been focused on the vaccine, but for most of the planetary health crises that are coming up, no vaccine or treatment is known. We can't allow ourselves to miss time now to mitigate the worst and prepare for the rest, beginning with the most basic actions - knowledge and education. At best, COVID-19 was the wake-up call for a better investment in planetary health, starting now!

Building bridges for the future

Change through education

To build up a new generation of transdisciplinary problem-solvers, it is necessary to create opportunities for raising awareness, knowledge exchange, and network building. It requires a place where young people can organize and educate themselves to raise their voices and change their surroundings.(5) Understanding the depth of the problem is the key to jointly create innovative solutions. Therefore, multidisciplinary capacity building on planetary health is the first step towards a healthier future.

The Planetary Health Eastern Africa Hub(6) offers not only multisectoral approaches to this knowledge but also creates a platform to exchange transformative ideas for the Eastern African Region and beyond. With its lectures and workshops, it can act as a catalyst that brings people with different backgrounds and experiences together, creating something bigger than each individual. The rapid growth of the Hub, as well as the emergence of similar hubs in other African regions, underlines the need and interest for planetary health learning platforms.

While the Hub is partnering with international organizations such as Women Leaders for Planetary Health,(7) Planetary Health Academy,(8) and the Planetary Health Alliance(9) to benefit from the international exchange of thoughts, its main focus is on developing networks within the Eastern African community and strengthening ties between the different disciplines on the ground. This will boost the Eastern Africa community engagement in planetary health transformative projects, where they can strengthen already existing initiatives and further develop their ideas.

The Hub is setting new ground in a region that is severely hit by the consequences of climate change and often disregarded in international climate politics. Africa also has a much younger population than many other places around the world,(10) which implicates a potential source and opportunity for transitioning towards a healthier future. A younger population, through their voices, can greatly influence policies and turn planetary health approaches into practice. To increase their awareness, the Hub advocates for the inclusion of planetary health into the educational curriculum, not only for health sciences but beyond into other areas.

Over the last years, civil society in Eastern African countries has increasingly been playing a more influential role in tackling environmental issues. The late Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai was optimistic that African civil society, trade unions, civic associations, non-governmental organizations, community-based groups and ordinary citizens have become bolder in solving environmental injustices.(11)  It might not be surprising that civil society will rise to the challenge when the consequences of climate change, water scarcity, air pollution and loss of biodiversity are increasingly affecting their quality of life.

The COVID-19 pandemic has now brought hidden and dangerous knock-on effects for the Eastern African region. The most vulnerable populations are facing an increased risk not only due to the virus itself but also to restrictions clashing with their daily life and limited access to essential health services.(12) While it is still too early to tell the position we will be after the pandemic, it is not too early to leverage our global responses for future planetary health threats.  We can only achieve this as a global community by including diverse voices, forming partnerships and developing multi-sectoral solutions on the ground. This path begins with transdisciplinary education, which enables mind shifts and the courage for transformation.