Understanding national barriers to climate change adaptation for public health - a global survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Marcus ◽  
E Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Networked Governance ◽  
Health Progress ◽  
Organizational Collaboration

Abstract Background Climate change has introduced a series of unprecedented threats to human health, ranging from rising food and water insecurity to deteriorating air quality, novel disease outbreaks, and intensifying natural disasters. The Paris Agreement pushes countries to develop adaptation plans that will protect human health from the worst impacts of climate change -a process referred to as climate change adaptation (CCA). Yet despite international pressure and escalating health threats, vast shortcomings persist in national CCA for public health progress. Thus, we investigated the major governance constraints underlying these trends. Methods A mixed-methods online survey was distributed to representatives of national public health associations and societies of 82 member countries under the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Results 9 of the 11 respondent countries (82%) affirmed the existence of a national CCA plan that includes an explicit public health focus. All respondees listed governance challenges in developing and operationalising their national CCA agenda. The major identified barriers to CCA for public health progress were lack of inter-government policy coordination and insufficient political will to mobilize human and non-human resources in support of public health-oriented adaptation efforts. Conclusions Climate change-driven amplification of global health risks necessitates that all nations generate clear CCA plans to protect human health. Our findings assist by highlighting the need for new platforms for organizational collaboration/networked governance and enhanced forums for CCA agenda-setting and ambition-raising. Such forms of enriched knowledge may facilitate decision-making amongst key public health stakeholders and global institutions for how best to align climate advocacy and country-wide support initiatives with cross-cutting national needs and constraints. Key messages Climate change-driven amplification of global health risks necessitates that all nations generate clear climate change adaptation plans to protect human health. New platforms for organizational collaboration/networked governance and enhanced forums for adaptation agenda-setting and ambition-raising may significantly bolster public health adaptation progress.

Environmental and Climate Change Initiatives in Nursing Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-144
Author(s):  
Phyllis Eide ◽  
Tamara Odom-Maryon
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Nursing Education ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Human Health ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Change Initiatives

Climate change has been labeled the greatest threat to public health and to global health in the 21st century. Addressing climate change has also been reframed as the greatest opportunity for global health in the 21st century, providing a more proactive lens through which to plan and implement actions. Significant climate change impacts to human health are numerous and mounting, including the direct effects of heatwaves, thermal stress and changed frequency or intensity of other extreme weather events. Climate change has been termed a complex public health issue affecting all areas of nursing practice dealing with individuals, families, communities, and the national health arena, and is therefore deserving of inclusion into nursing curricula throughout the entirety of prelicensure coursework. Nursing education programs that include this content will better prepare future nurses to face projected environmental challenges to human health.

scholarly journals Climate Change and Health Preparedness in Africa: Analysing Trends in Six African Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4672
Author(s):  
Samuel Kwasi Opoku ◽  
Walter Leal Filho ◽  
Fudjumdjum Hubert ◽  
Oluwabunmi Adejumo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
African Countries

Climate change is a global problem, which affects the various geographical regions at different levels. It is also associated with a wide range of human health problems, which pose a burden to health systems, especially in regions such as Africa. Indeed, across the African continent public health systems are under severe pressure, partly due to their fragile socioeconomic conditions. This paper reports on a cross-sectional study in six African countries (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Ethiopia, and Kenya) aimed at assessing their vulnerabilities to climate change, focusing on its impacts on human health. The study evaluated the levels of information, knowledge, and perceptions of public health professionals. It also examined the health systems’ preparedness to cope with these health hazards, the available resources, and those needed to build resilience to the country’s vulnerable population, as perceived by health professionals. The results revealed that 63.1% of the total respondents reported that climate change had been extensively experienced in the past years, while 32% claimed that the sampled countries had experienced them to some extent. Nigerian respondents recorded the highest levels (67.7%), followed by Kenya with 66.6%. South Africa had the lowest level of impact as perceived by the respondents (50.0%) when compared with the other sampled countries. All respondents from Ghana and Namibia reported that health problems caused by climate change are common in the two countries. As perceived by the health professionals, the inadequate resources reiterate the need for infrastructural resources, medical equipment, emergency response resources, and technical support. The study’s recommendations include the need to improve current policies at all levels (i.e., national, regional, and local) on climate change and public health and to strengthen health professionals’ skills. Improving the basic knowledge of health institutions to better respond to a changing climate is also recommended. The study provides valuable insights which may be helpful to other nations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals A Transdisciplinary Approach to Address Climate Change Adaptation for Human Health and Well-Being in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4258
Author(s):  
Caradee Yael Wright ◽  
Candice Eleanor Moore ◽  
Matthew Chersich ◽  
Rebecca Hester ◽  
Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Well Being ◽  
World Health ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Comprehensive Health ◽  
African Context

The health sector response to dealing with the impacts of climate change on human health, whether mitigative or adaptive, is influenced by multiple factors and necessitates creative approaches drawing on resources across multiple sectors. This short communication presents the context in which adaptation to protect human health has been addressed to date and argues for a holistic, transdisciplinary, multisectoral and systems approach going forward. Such a novel health-climate approach requires broad thinking regarding geographies, ecologies and socio-economic policies, and demands that one prioritises services for vulnerable populations at higher risk. Actions to engage more sectors and systems in comprehensive health-climate governance are identified. Much like the World Health Organization’s ‘Health in All Policies’ approach, one should think health governance and climate change together in a transnational framework as a matter not only of health promotion and disease prevention, but of population security. In an African context, there is a need for continued cross-border efforts, through partnerships, blending climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and long-term international financing, to contribute towards meeting sustainable development imperatives.

Natural landscapes and the health crisis.

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
Alan W. Ewert ◽  
Denise S. Mitten ◽  
Jillisa R. Overholt
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Natural Landscapes ◽  
Ecological Grief

Abstract This book chapter focuses on how landscapes can be harmful to human health and wellbeing and suggests possible strategies for reparation and to regain a reciprocal relationship with landscapes. Climate change, Indigenous practices, and ecological grief are discussed, as well as health risks from polluted environments, fire, ocean levels, glaciers, and biodiversity.

Learning and Climate Change Adaptation

2017 ◽  
pp. 1560-1583
Author(s):  
Lynn A. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Community Leadership ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Sustainable Action ◽  
Resilient Behavior

Youth play an ever-increasing role as counter-cyclical agents that can be mobilized for developing and implementing adaptation responses to build resilience in communities under stress from climate change. Organizations with a coupled research and educational focus are well situated to partner with formal and informal educational institutions to create valuable opportunities for simultaneous learning and practice for youth and their communities in building resilience to climate change. In this chapter, the author argues that climate-knowledgeable and empowered youth are positioned to show new, resilient behavior as critical environmental and social thresholds are approached. Using human health as a gauge for sustainable action, the study by NGO SeaTrust Institute that is analyzed in this chapter shows potentially effective learning approaches, programs and systems for engaging youth as transformational agents to catalyze community leadership for climate change adaptation in an age of escalating environmental and social instability.

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