Purpose

The interconnections between climate change and health are well studied. However, there is a perceived need for studies that examine how responses to health hazards (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, ozone layer effects, allergens, mental health and vector-borne diseases) may assist in reducing their impacts. The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence on health responses to climate hazards and list some measures to address them.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed literature review, bibliometric analysis and an original online survey were undertaken on 140 participants from 55 countries spread across all geographical regions.

Findings

The bibliometric analysis identified that most climate-related health hazards are associated with extreme weather events. However, only one-third of the investigated papers specifically analysed the connections between climate change and health hazards, revealing a thematic gap. Also, although Africa is highly affected by climate change, only 5% of the assessed studies focused on this continent. Many respondents to the survey indicated “heat distress” as a significant vulnerability. The survey also identified social determinants relevant to climate-induced health vulnerabilities, such as socioeconomic and environmental factors, infrastructure and pre-existing health conditions. Most respondents agree that policies and regulations are the most effective adaptation tools to address the public health hazards triggered by climate change. This paper presents some suggestions for optimising public health responses to health hazards associated with climate change, such as the inclusion of climate-related components in public health policies, setting up monitoring systems to assess the extent to which specific climate events may pose a health threat, establishing plans to cope with the health implications of heatwaves, increased measures to protect vulnerable groups and education and awareness-raising initiatives to reduce the overall vulnerability of the population to climate-related health hazards. These measures may assist the ongoing global efforts to understand better – and cope with – the impacts of climate change on health.

Originality/value

The combination of a literature review, bibliometric analysis and an original world survey identified and presented a wide range of responses.

中文翻译：

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气候变化和健康危害分析：一项国际研究的结果

目的

气候变化与健康之间的相互联系得到了很好的研究。然而，人们认为需要进行研究，检查对健康危害（例如心血管疾病、臭氧层影响、过敏原、心理健康和媒介传播疾病）的反应如何有助于减少其影响。本文的目的是回顾健康应对气候危害的证据，并列出一些应对措施。

设计/方法/方法

对来自所有地理区域的 55 个国家的 140 名参与者进行了混合文献回顾、文献计量分析和原始在线调查。

发现

文献计量分析确定，大多数与气候相关的健康危害与极端天气事件有关。然而，只有三分之一的调查论文专门分析了气候变化与健康危害之间的联系，揭示了主题差距。此外，尽管非洲受气候变化的影响很大，但只有 5% 的评估研究集中在该大陆。调查的许多受访者表示“热痛”是一个重大的脆弱性。该调查还确定了与气候引起的健康脆弱性相关的社会决定因素，例如社会经济和环境因素、基础设施和预先存在的健康状况。大多数受访者一致认为，政策和法规是应对气候变化引发的公共卫生危害的最有效的适应工具。本文提出了一些优化公共卫生应对气候变化相关健康危害的建议，例如将气候相关内容纳入公共卫生政策，建立监测系统以评估特定气候事件可能对健康构成威胁的程度，制定计划以应对热浪对健康的影响，增加保护弱势群体的措施以及教育和提高认识举措，以降低人口对与气候相关的健康危害的总体脆弱性。这些措施可能有助于正在进行的全球努力，以更好地了解并应对气候变化对健康的影响。例如将气候相关内容纳入公共卫生政策、建立监测系统以评估特定气候事件可能对健康构成威胁的程度、制定应对热浪对健康影响的计划、加强保护弱势群体的措施教育和提高认识举措，以降低人口对气候相关健康危害的总体脆弱性。这些措施可能有助于正在进行的全球努力，以更好地了解并应对气候变化对健康的影响。例如将气候相关内容纳入公共卫生政策、建立监测系统以评估特定气候事件可能对健康构成威胁的程度、制定应对热浪对健康影响的计划、加强保护弱势群体的措施教育和提高认识举措，以降低人口对气候相关健康危害的总体脆弱性。这些措施可能有助于正在进行的全球努力，以更好地了解并应对气候变化对健康的影响。增加保护弱势群体的措施以及教育和提高认识举措，以降低人口对气候相关健康危害的总体脆弱性。这些措施可能有助于正在进行的全球努力，以更好地了解并应对气候变化对健康的影响。增加保护弱势群体的措施以及教育和提高认识举措，以降低人口对气候相关健康危害的总体脆弱性。这些措施可能有助于正在进行的全球努力，以更好地了解并应对气候变化对健康的影响。

原创性/价值

文献回顾、文献计量分析和原始世界调查相结合，确定并提出了广泛的回应。