Climate change in Africa is not a distant or abstract risk. It is already shaping health outcomes, livelihoods and development pathways across the continent. One year after the establishment of the Lancet Countdown Africa Regional Centre, this reality has sharpened a central insight: if Africa is bearing a disproportionate share of climate impacts, it must also play a leading role in producing the evidence that guides global and regional responses.
As the Centre marks its first anniversary, this moment offers an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved and what must come next.
1. Placing Africa’s health burden clearly on the global record
The centre contributed to the 2025 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, which highlighted the disproportionate health burden being shouldered by people in Africa. The findings reinforce the urgency of action, documenting rising heat-related mortality, increasing strain on health systems and mounting economic losses linked to climate impacts.
The report underscores the continent’s disproportionate exposure relative to its historic contribution to emissions, strengthening the case for just, health-centred climate change policy and for evidence that speaks directly to African contexts.
2. Engaging key decision makers with climate change and health research
This year, the Lancet Countdown Africa has convened researchers, policymakers and practitioners to engage key decision makers with the evidence. These efforts have helped strengthen relationships and build a shared understanding of how evidence can be most relevant and useful for decision makers.
3. Investing in African research leadership and building Africa-specific indicators
Over its first year, the Centre has begun building the groundwork for Africa-specific indicators that better capture the dynamics between climate change and health across diverse national contexts. The centre is pleased to have completed a recruitment round for the academic leaders who will shape the scientific outputs of the Lancet Countdown Africa, with Working Group leads to be announced shortly.
The Centre is also helping create pathways for early-career researchers and postgraduate students to engage with live, policy-relevant climate change and health questions.
Looking ahead: turning foundations into impact
The next year’s ambitions are clear. Africa-specific indicators must be actualised and tracked over time, while links between research and policy processes must be strengthened so that local evidence can truly shape climate change and health priorities and enable a healthy future for all.