Climate hazards and environmental changes due to climate change have increased the risk of diseases, including infectious diseases. Photo credit: ADB.
An ADB-supported project seeks to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of health systems in Kalimantan, Sarawak, and Zamboanga.
Like the rest of Southeast Asia, the BIMP-EAGA subregion is highly exposed to climate hazards. In recent years, typhoons, storm surges, floods, and heat waves have increased in intensity and frequency, disrupting and endangering people’s lives.
Climate change is also driving rapid and widespread environmental changes, which have increased the risk of zoonotic diseases—infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. An example is the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which the world has yet to fully recover from.
In some areas, deforestation, peatland degradation, and forest fires contribute to transboundary haze, which lead to poor air quality and increasing rates of respiratory diseases.
Countries in the region, particularly the Philippines, are often in the path of strong tropical cyclones that bring destructive winds, heavy rains, storm surges, and widespread floods, threatening health care delivery and infrastructure.
A project supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) seeks to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of health systems in BIMP-EAGA by advancing the decarbonization of health care in Kalimantan in Indonesia, Sarawak in Malaysia, and the Zamboanga Peninsula in the Philippines. The $200,000 technical assistance, approved by ADB last December, supports the environment pillar of the BIMP-EAGA subregional cooperation program in accelerating adaptation and mitigation efforts.
There is an urgent need for low-carbon, resilient, and sustainable health systems worldwide. It is estimated that the health care sector accounts for up to 5% of net global emissions. And unless the sector is decarbonized, total greenhouse gas emissions from health care could triple by 2050.
It is a moral imperative for the health sector to decarbonize, but this will take time, said Eduardo Banzon, director of ADB’s Human and Social Development Sector Office, in a recent webinar on transforming health systems for climate resilience. “It is crucial at this time that, in addition to decarbonization, we need to put in adaptation measures in our health systems. We have to make sure that our health systems, our healthcare providers, and our health facilities are well-versed in managing the impacts of climate change.”
Based on projections of the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change can cause 250,000 additional climate-related deaths each year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress between 2030 and 2050. It is expected to result in $2 billion to $4 billion in direct damages to health systems in the same period. Health systems must be prepared to respond to the growing climate-related health threats.
There are practical strategies to decarbonize health care. This includes shifting to clean renewable energy (e.g., solar); designing low-carbon health facilities, such as energy-efficient hospital buildings; adopting telehealth and other digital services to reduce the need to travel; providing sustainably grown food by supporting farm-to-hospital programs and community-based agriculture; promoting disease prevention as climate protection; and supporting low-carbon medical products and devices.
At the policy level, developing Health National Adaptation Plans (HNAPs) that respond to the needs of communities and foster local solutions helps prioritize actions to address the impacts of climate change.
These interventions will also help Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines face other common health problems including rising rates of noncommunicable diseases, a resurgence of infectious diseases, and aging-related health issues, said Vasoontara Yiengprugsawan, senior universal health coverage specialist at ADB.
It will support measures that help address problems that affect health systems in the project areas including poor and under-resourced facilities, high exposure to coastal flooding, lack of 24-hour access to electricity and clean water, inadequate drainage, and shortage of health workers.
In Sarawak, Yiengprugsawan said, “the technical assistance project will also complement an ongoing project that develops green city action plans (GCAPs) for 14 cities in Malaysia, including Kuching, Sarawak's capital.” The GCAPs are designed to accelerate post-COVID-19 competitiveness and resilience. The project pipeline in Kuching includes investments aimed at mitigating air pollution and improving public health.