Shortages of food and water, and the dangers of heat for vulnerable groups, are likely to be the top climate change health challenges for Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), health decision-makers heard in Vientiane in July 2023.
More than 65 public health specialists and project managers, policy makers, academics and partners attended a two-day training workshop, which was conducted by the Ministry of Health’s Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion and the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office on the effects of climate change on health, groups at high risk and priority adaptations.
During the training, participants developed implementation plans for six priority adaption areas of the National Health Adaptation Plan (HNAP): planning, leadership and governance; risks to water, sanitation and waste management in health care facilities; medical conditions caused by heat; food insecurity and malnutrition; managing a surge in demand for health care for injuries caused by extreme weather; and anticipating an increase in vector-borne diseases, particular dengue. The implementation plans will be included in the 2023-2024 work plan.
Lao PDR is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with projections of more extreme weather, a 2–3° C rise in temperature by 2050, and a 10–30% increase in rainfall, particularly in the south.
Agriculture and food systems are under threat—70% of Lao PDR’s population relies on subsistence agriculture, vulnerable to extreme weather events and disasters—and food insecurity could lead to children being forced to skip or limit meals, with a rise in malnutrition and the many health problems that brings.
Increasing temperatures will bring cause heat stress, triggering a range of medical problems, including heat-related deaths among older people, and risks for children and people who work outdoors.
Dr Bouakeo Souvanthong, Deputy Director, Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion, Ministry of Health, said strategic and operational-level planning, coordination and monitoring at national and local levels was important in protecting health amid a changing climate.
Dr Bounthanom Phimmasone, Deputy Head of the Environmental Hygiene Division of the Ministry of Health, said all sectors – including health, agriculture, environment, transport – would need to work together to protect people’s health and avoid straining an already overloaded health system.
Following the successful training workshop, modules will be used to teach post-graduate students of public health, climate, water and sanitation, nutrition, disaster management and environmental health at the University of Health Sciences in Lao PDR.