Climate change and health system preparedness: it never rains but it pours

Abstract

Background and aim – Climate change is posing an increased burden on human health through both its long term consequences and its acute manifestations. National health systems need to increase their preparedness to these consequences. The geographical distribution of the manifestation of climate change is thought to widen inequalities in health system quality and accessibility already present across countries. The aim of this research is to assess the association between climate change impact and health system preparedness at country level, worldwide. Methods - All data was extracted from publicly available sources. Impact of climate change was measured with two variables: the Global Climate Risk Index (GCRI), which measures exposure and vulnerability of a country connected to weather-related loss events that have a socio-economic impact, and the Notre-Dame Global Adaptation Initiative index (ND-GAIN), measuring wider vulnerability to climate change. To assess healthcare system preparedness the Self Party Assessment Report Score (SPAR) was used, which measures healthcare system capacity to prepare for public health risks and emergencies. Regression models were adjusted for gross domestic product (GDP) per capita), Human Development Index, Peace Index, age structure of the population. Results – Preliminary results suggest a negative association between GCRI and SPAR suggesting that health systems worldwide are adapting well their preparedness to climate-related vulnerability as the preparedness was highest in those countries more frequently affected by climate-related events. A full analysis and interpretation of data will be presented. Conclusion – Climate change consequence on human health are widening inequalities across countries. Lack of health system preparedness might contribute to the further widening of such inequalities and should be tackled by the international community and the World Health Organisation as matter of priority. This research will provide some important data to map existing resources and threats, and to inform public health priorities.