The journal of climate change and health最新文献

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Although the impacts of climate change on human health conditions are reasonably well documented, specific influences on rheumatic diseases remain incompletely characterized. The goal of this scoping review was to better understand how climate change is impacting rheumatic diseases, either directly or indirectly, as well as how climate change affects the geographical distribution of infectious diseases with arthritogenic manifestations, which will impact rheumatic disease care.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR).

Results

149 papers were identified regarding the impact of climate change related exposures on patients with rheumatic diseases. The most common climate-related exposure was air pollution, with other factors including excess heat or cold, precipitation, exposure to ultraviolet light, and malnutrition. The vast majority of studies identified associations of climate related factors with increased disease activity or incidence. 105 studies were identified that addressed the influence of climate change on the observed or projected changes in the geographical range of diseases with arthritogenic manifestations spread by arthropods or environmental vectors. The majority of studies focused on dengue, Lyme disease and chikungunya and found an increase in the geographical range with climate change. A grey literature search of rheumatology organization websites suggests that the field of rheumatology remains inadequately prepared for climate change impacts.

Conclusions

The existing literature was summarized and gaps were highlighted that are deserving of further exploration such that rheumatologists can be better prepared to care for their patients, educate them on potential health harms, and advocate for policies to proactively address the climate crisis.

Introduction

The cascading impacts of climate change have significant implications for public health and healthcare delivery globally. This review explores how climate change impacts the health system workforce (both public health and healthcare service delivery), and what adaptation strategies are being deployed to mitigate against extreme climate events.

Methods

The review draws from English language peer-reviewed articles published between 2003 and 2023, that forefront experiences and adaptations to climate change events as they relate to the health system workforce. Out of 1662 articles, upon completing title and abstract review, two reviewers completed full-text review of 130 articles, removing 92 for not meeting inclusion criteria, resulting in 38 articles. Articles were analyzed in relation to the World Health Organization Climate Resilient Health Systems Framework.

Results

Emergent themes highlight occupational health impacts such as physical hazards, burn out and psychosocial impacts. Adaptive strategies to address these impacts include bolstering transformative leadership praxis, psychosocial support provision, emergency preparedness and planning, and scaling up climate-related emergency preparedness through the development of climate change core competencies and multi-sectoral collaboration strategies.

Conclusions

Our review illustrates the limitations and opportunities of current adaptive strategies being utilized to support the healthcare workforce around the world, highlights the need for immediate emissions reductions that will reduce future hazards, and provides recommendations for how these findings can be applied to better prepare the health workforce for a range of climate futures.

Climate change presents an urgent and growing threat to the health and well-being of people and the planet. More frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts and floods are breaching critical ecosystem boundaries, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly complex to govern. Unsustainable development pathways and economic choices that are fueling the climate crisis are also directly engendering global health issues. Furthermore, the global response to climate change has been uneven and the lack of a conceptual framework for loss and damage has allowed developed countries the latitude to adopt differing takes on its framing, undermining the urgency and progression of the loss and damage mechanism to the detriment of developing countries. Current research on the governance of climate ethics posits that while economic and legal considerations largely influence climate policies, decision-making processes in climate adjacent sectors such as health need to be further grounded on ethically sound principles. Framing the health impacts of climate change as a moral issue can therefore be viewed as an effort to reshape the current political discourse with a humanistic lens and move the international community and state-level actors to action. The framing of this issue is particularly important as it recenters the focus on human health as an imperative for effective climate policies rather than as a contributor to the cache of peripheral co-benefits. It also underscores climate change as an ethical issue, in which failure to respond to the climate impacts can worsen health inequities, especially for socially and economically marginalized communities and vulnerable groups.

Introduction

Due to climate change, the frequency of heatwaves and extreme heat events (EHE) has increased over the last five decades and is expected to continue increasing.

Methods

In this scoping review, we searched the literature for how EHEs and heatwaves impact pediatric health and how children can adapt to these threats. We used the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews framework and searched several databases for studies pertaining to pediatric health, heatwaves, and EHEs.

Results

The search generated 1719 studies that were screened by the authors. Ultimately, 113 studies were included in this review. We found that extreme heat exposure leads to a variety of adverse health outcomes in pediatric patients; some of the most notable are increased risks of adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth and low birth weight. Extreme heat exposure was also associated with increased rates among children of emergency department visits, asthma exacerbations, heat illness, and impaired school performance.

Conclusion

Children will continue to face the repercussions of extreme heat as global temperatures continue to rise. It is imperative that future research includes adaptation measures to help keep children healthy and safe during periods of extreme heat.

Climate resilient development (CRD) is a future-focused solutions framework encapsulating climate adaptation and mitigation activities. It aims to prevent and prepare for the worst impacts of climate change whilst supporting sustainable development. When considering sustainability in healthcare systems, CRD goes beyond the current narrow focus on adaptation and mitigation to a more productive and integrated focus on how healthcare systems must equitably develop and transform to preserve the interconnected health of human and natural systems.

The field of governance has received insufficient attention as a key determinant of CRD in healthcare systems, despite being a crucial enabling condition. It is through governance that climate resilient development policies are created, supported, implemented, and monitored. In this perspective we share a review that found no papers concerning how governance can enable CRD of healthcare systems followed by a broadened search which revealed a growing focus on elements of CRD (climate adaptation and mitigation) and barriers to climate adaptation and mitigation in healthcare systems.

To respond to this gap, this perspective suggests there is value in jointly considering healthcare systems, climate resilient development and governance. We argue that transdisciplinary research combining these topics could provide practical and novel guidance for stakeholders involved in the pursuit of CRD of healthcare systems and could strengthen policy responses and actions.

Background

Climate change is identified as the foremost health threat in the present era, resulting in a broad range of negative health impacts on individuals, families, and communities. Marginalized populations in developing countries are particularly affected. This literature review explored the health impacts of climate change-related natural disasters on persons with pre-existing physical and mental disabilities in developing countries.

Methods

The Joanna Briggs Institute [JBI] evidence synthesis guideline was applied and results were reported following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses [PRISMA] guidelines. PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Embase databases were searched using terms related to ‘persons with disabilities’ (PWD), ‘climate change’, and “developing countries” and types of natural disasters considered to result from climate change. Selected articles were reviewed and thematic analysis was performed.

Findings

Fourteen articles were included of which five generalized across multiple countries and nine profiled specific developing countries including Bangladesh, China, Haiti, India, Nepal, Philippines, South Africa, Tuvalu, and Uganda. Five key themes were identified: [i] impact on PWD physical health, [ii] impact on PWD mental health, [iii] resilience and coping strategies of PWD in disasters, [iv] PWD involvement in inclusive disaster planning, and [v] climate-change related natural disasters on PWD in developing countries as a human rights issue.

Interpretation

This review underscores the lack of literature related to negative health impacts of climate change-related natural disasters on persons with pre-existing physical and mental disabilities in developing countries. Additional research is required to better understand these impacts as well as contributing social and economic factors and facilitative coping and resilience strategies in climate-related natural disasters. Addressing these gaps can inform development of effective, disability-inclusive disaster management practices which contribute to more equitable climate-change related health and rights-based outcomes for PWD in developing countries.

Introduction

Climate change's severe impact on human health is becoming increasingly evident, particularly for vulnerable populations with serious illnesses. Climate-related extreme weather events are expected to increase demand for hospice and palliative care due to rising respiratory illnesses, heat-related issues, waterborne diseases, and aggravated chronic conditions. Our scoping review aimed to investigate the existing literature on climate change's impact on hospice and palliative medicine (HPM).

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive literature search across various databases (e.g., Medline, EMbase, Web of Science, and Cochrane) using predefined climate change and HPM terms, resulting in 382 records. Following predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 44 articles were selected for full-text review, and 20 were included for final analysis. In light of the limited literature on climate change's impact on HPM, we also sought narratives from HPM practitioners from across the world on their experiences in a changing climate.

Results

Six major themes emerged: 1) The impact of climate change on HPM in low-income countries; 2) Descriptive pieces on climate change, climate disasters, and HPM; 3) Morbidity and mortality after climate disasters in the seriously ill population; 4) Discussion of euthanasia during climate disasters; 5) Recommendations and frameworks for disaster response in the field of HPM; 6) Carbon footprint of hospices. Additionally, narratives from HPM practitioners highlighted the disruptive effects of climate disasters on seriously ill patients and their caregivers as disasters caused care interruptions, reduced access to crucial health infrastructure, exacerbations of illness, accelerated disease progression, and increased morbidity and mortality.

Conclusion

Existing research on climate change's impact on HPM is primarily anecdotal and descriptive, with a focus on climate-related disasters. Narratives from HPM practitioners worldwide underscore the disproportionate impact of climate disasters on seriously ill patients. Further research is necessary to comprehensively understand climate's intricate effects on HPM and to assess adaptable, mitigative, and resilient solutions against its adverse impacts.

Climate change may widen pre-existing health disparities in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) populations. We argue that LGBTQ+ communities will have more exposure to climate change related disasters, be more susceptible to the adverse impacts of climate change and will have fewer resources to recover from climate disasters. Scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and climatologists need to carefully consider the potential for disparate effects of climate change disasters on the health of LGBTQ+ people. Legislative action protecting LGBTQ+ populations from discrimination, more LGBTQ+ inclusive data collection efforts, and LGBTQ+ sensitivity trainings for disaster relief providers are needed now to ameliorate climate change-related LGBTQ+ health disparities.

Objective

To investigate how health is incorporated into the NDCs of Caribbean SIDS and their financing challenges.

Methods

The study analysed the NDCs of sixteen Caribbean SIDS using content analysis to investigate their level of engagement with health.

Results

Caribbean SIDS have a high level of reference with health in their NDCs relative to other developing countries which is expected to increase as they update them. All sixteen countries included health in their NDCs, mostly with regard to adaptation to be achieved by 2025/2030. Five countries provided targets in health aimed at increasing climate resilience. This may be explained by the region's poor health profile, high exposure to climate change and disasters, inadequate health infrastructure and resources and dependence on external finance. There was hardly any information on how countries intend to finance their health goals.

Conclusion

Inclusion of health in Caribbean SIDS NDCs could increase obligation to climate action at domestic and regional levels and attract international climate finance. The Caribbean should seek out funds that make finance available to tackle health-related risks from climate change. It is imperative that Caribbean SIDS compute and state their climate finance needs in health if they are to attract international finance and raise donor and investor confidence. Caribbean SIDS have the opportunity to advocate for and be an example for the integration of health into climate change policy and politics to encourage global cooperation, boost countries’ climate change aspirations and ramp up international climate finance.