Measuring the climate resilience of health systems

Overview

As countries continue to prepare health systems for additional climate change, and as risks to health continue to increase with the possibility of more severe impacts, information and guidance are needed to understand when a health system can be considered resilient. Climate resilient health systems are those that are capable of anticipating, responding to, coping with, recovering from, and adapting to climate- related shocks and stresses, so as to bring about sustained improvements in population health, despite an unstable climate. This definition highlights that resilience is measured at the scale of a health system and understands that health systems are composed of multiple actors, infrastructure and activities, along with collaborations with other sectors and entities. Failure to prepare for climate change now by bolstering the resilience of health systems increases the probability that hazards become disasters and complex emergencies that cause severe impacts to human health and communities.

Measuring the climate resilience of a health system is most effectively done with information and indicators that are tailored to the needs of the health authority using it. This should build upon, but not duplicate the results of existing national health surveillance and related monitoring systems, as well as regional and international monitoring and reporting initiatives. This document provides guidance with illustrative examples of the different types of indicators as well as the process of identifying them. It should be used to initiate discussions on which indicators are of the greatest relevance to the local or national health concerns about a changing climate. Moreover, this guidance can assist health authorities – from local to national levels – in their efforts to chart progress towards developing health systems that protect populations from current climate-related hazards and that are prepared for future climate shocks and stresses. Because many of the actions and indicators of progress are relevant for actions taken by decision-makers in other sectors, this report can also inform their adaptation activities. To this end, it provides a framework and suggested approach for measuring the climate resilience of health systems.