Collaboration and capacity for climate change and health research: An analysis of stakeholders in the Philippines

Abstract

The Philippine government included the health impacts of climate change as a priority area for research funding. An analysis of stakeholders was done to assist the government in engaging research and government stakeholders in producing climate change and health research. Fourteen interviews and two consultation meetings were conducted from March to July 2018. Two categories of stakeholders were interviewed. The first are government entities with institutional mandates encompassing national climate change action plans, state socioeconomic plans, state bureaus for health, the environment, and scientific research. The second are research and professional service providers such as a scientific agency for climatological services, universities and their research arms, private consulting firms, and a private foundation supporting research on climate change adaptation. Stakeholders expressed that there is a need to establish the links between climate change and health in the country context, and to determine which prevalent health issues of the Philippines are climate-sensitive. While some research is conducted, priorities and agenda of stakeholders are not guided by an overall plan for the development of research on climate change and health. Technical expertise on climate change and health exists independently, but there are few perceived experts on the impacts of climate change on health. Available funding can be used to support the work of existing experts on climate science and health research and invest in building cross-disciplinary expertise. Deliberate capacity development is needed particularly for disease burden modeling and projections. This supports the generation of context-relevant evidence needed for health adaptation against climate change.