Climate Adaptation Strategy for Health and Action Plan: Part of the Project “Integrating Climate Change Risks in the Agriculture and Health Sectors in Sāmoa”

Climate change threatens the social, cultural and ecological underpinnings of health and wellbeing. Major health risks related to climate change include loss of life and injury from extreme climate events, communicable and vector borne diseases and malnutrition. Some of these risks can be managed within the health sector, but most require intersectoral collaboration for effective prevention. Broad objectives for climate-health adaptation include the following: strengthen the capacity of health sector to provide protection from climate-related risks; ensure that health concerns are addressed in decisions in other sectors to reduce risks from climate change, and; increase awareness of the health consequences of climate change. We summarize activities that are currently in place in Samoa - within and outside the health sector - that aim to address present-day climate sensitive health risks. These activities do not, in general, consider the potential for climate change to alter or intensify these risks. Deciding on priorities for adaptation to climate change is difficult, due to incomplete information on existing health risks as well as the effectiveness, feasibility, cost and equity implications of potential actions. However, many “no-regrets” or “low-regrets” adaptation policies are available, which would be beneficial regardless of the projected impact of climate change on health. In consultation with stakeholders and using the identified climate sensitive health risks, a matrix was developed to help inform decisions on priority-setting for health adaptation activities. Public health in Samoa is vulnerable to climate change, especially as it relates to flooding and other extreme events, but also to longer term changes to climate averages. Samoa is already subject to a number of climate-sensitive health problems that are not well addressed, and Samoa’s vulnerability to these may be increased with climate change. There was broad agreement on the important climate sensitive health risks that should be considered in climate change adaptation planning. Many of the needs identified for adaptation planning relate to data and information. A lack of data was noted as a significant limitation across sectors. Data is required to establish baseline relationships between, for example, climate variables and health outcomes, in order to estimate future risks, plan appropriate adaptation activities and evaluate the impacts of such activities. Improved laboratory testing and surveillance is a high priority, as are research projects to establish baselines and trends in climate sensitive health risks. A process for sharing information across sectors would improve understanding of responsibilities and relationships between sectors and add value to research. Increasing capacity – technical expertise, for example in research and monitoring – as well as in community resilience was also identified as an important need