Health Overview

Climate change is now a direct and growing threat to human health. Historic rainfall is driving malaria, cholera, and dengue outbreaks. Extreme heat is killing hundreds of thousands, threatening crops, and pushing people further into poverty. Air pollution is increasing the risk of respiratory disease, cancer, and dementia.

This chapter explores how The Rockefeller Foundation is responding by bringing together partners together. To bridge the divide between climate and health action, the Foundation is taking a “big tent” approach: convening partners, surfacing shared priorities, and helping build bridges between fields.

In 2024, 4,200 health workers were trained or equipped across Africa and Asia, 12.2 million people received improved health information, and 145,000 people were vaccinated, screened, or treated across ten countries. Learn about award-winning pathogen detection research in Thailand and a major milestone at COP, where health was formally institutionalized in the agenda.

Read the full chapter to learn how the Foundation and its partners are working to meet the health challenges of a warming world.