Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42174741›Full record

ArticleInfectious diseases of poverty2026

Climate justice as a public health imperative: a perspective from Sierra Leone considering the 2025 International Court of Justice opinion.

Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara, Sia Morenike Tengbe, Morie Vandi, Jacklyne Ashubwe, Binyam Hailu, Bobson Derrick Fofanah, Busi Anissette, Augustus Osborne, Rachel Tolhurst, Timo Minssen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Infectious diseases of poverty, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Ibrahim Franklyn KamaraChild and Adolescent Health Technical Officer, Family and Reproductive Health, Health Systems and Services Cluster, World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside Drive, Off Kingharman Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone. ikamara@who.int.
Sia Morenike TengbeMinistry of Health, 4th and 5th Floors, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Morie VandiMinistry of Health, 4th and 5th Floors, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Jacklyne AshubweMedwise Solutions, 8th Floor Pinetree Plaza, Kamburu Drive, Off Ngong Road, Nairobi, Kenya.
Binyam HailuChild and Adolescent Health Technical Officer, Family and Reproductive Health, Health Systems and Services Cluster, World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside Drive, Off Kingharman Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Bobson Derrick FofanahChild and Adolescent Health Technical Officer, Family and Reproductive Health, Health Systems and Services Cluster, World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside Drive, Off Kingharman Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Busi AnissetteSolthis, 1 The Maze, Off King Street, Wilberforce, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Augustus OsborneInstitute for Development, Western Area, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Rachel TolhurstLiverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, UK.
Timo MinssenCentre for Advanced Studies in Bioscience Innovation Law (CeBIL), Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Karen Blixen Plads 16, København S, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Climate change poses an escalating threat to health, livelihoods, and economic development in Sierra Leone, a coastal, low-income country highly dependent on rain-fed agriculture for sustenance and revenue. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, floods, landslides, sea-level rise, and coastal erosion disrupt food systems and damage infrastructure, subsequently entrenching poverty, with projected gross domestic product losses of up to 10% by 2050. The health impacts fall disproportionately on children, adolescents and young people, pregnant women, the elderly, and the urban poor, including increased vector- and water-borne diseases, heat-related morbidity, non-communicable diseases, malnutrition, mental illness, and gender-based violence, particularly in informal coastal settlements. Despite these risks, climate adaptation and mitigation remain weakly integrated across sectors. Conflicting policies, fragmented governance systems, inadequate domestic financing, and over-reliance on unpredictable donor support undermine implementation of existing frameworks such as the National Adaptation Programme of Action. An example of policy conflicts is the extractive-sector priorities directly countering those of environmental protection and public health. This correspondence interrogates global and local institutional readiness to mitigate climate-related health risks, drawing on the WHO Operational Framework for Climate-Resilient Health Systems and the multidimensional climate justice approach. Using the July 2025 International Court of Justice advisory opinion on climate change as a legal and moral anchor, we argue for urgent, health-centred, and justice-oriented climate actions. We highlight the need for strengthened cross-sectoral governance, community-level implementation, and legal accountability, particularly in securing international climate financing for adaptation as part of States' human rights obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Loss and Damage Framework. We contend that the International Court of Justice opinion provides Sierra Leone with a critical new basis to advocate for international support to protect the fundamental right to health.

Indexed as

Climate ChangePublic HealthSocial JusticeHumansSierra LeoneAdaptationAfricaClimate changeExtreme weather patternsInternational Court of JusticeMitigationSierra LeoneVulnerability

Identifiers

PMID42174741
PMCPMC13196226

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.