Priorities for an African research agenda on climate, environment and maternal, newborn and child health.

Climate change and environmental degradation are reshaping maternal, newborn and child health risks across Africa, yet evidence generation remains constrained by sparse monitoring infrastructure, fragmented health and environmental data, limited data linkage, and uneven governance capacity. This Perspective proposes priorities for an African research agenda on climate, environment and maternal, newborn and child health. It argues for research that is continentally relevant but locally grounded: designed for data scarcity, attentive to climate and environmental heterogeneity, reflexive about data sovereignty, and embedded in translation and capacity strengthening. Drawing on experience from the CHEAQI-MNCH project and related work in selected West, East and Southern African settings, we outline seven priorities for African-led, context-sensitive and action-oriented climate and environmental health research.