Pacific health systems face the challenge of providing essential services to populations spread across remote islands and atolls. Facilities are often hard to reach and infrequent transportation and supply routes result in high operational costs. Staffing isolated areas remains difficult. Climate change further intensifies the obstacles Pacific governments encounter delivering quality care to their communities.

The Pacific experiences many climate-related challenges. Extreme weather events can result in heavy rain and storm surges, and sea level rise risks submerging entire communities. A review of 76 hospitals in 14 Pacific island countries found that 62% of health facilities were within 500 metres of the sea or a river.⁵ Flooding, power cuts and damage to infrastructure make access to care, and providing the care, more difficult, especially when it is needed the most. Pacific governments acknowledge these challenges and are prioritizing transforming their health systems to account for the impacts of climate change. At the same time the health sector needs to reduce its own carbon and environmental footprint. Currently the health sector contributes around 5% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally per year.

The WHO Operational framework for building climate resilient and low carbon health systems supports this transformation of health systems. WHO has developed supporting guidance including the Climate change and health: vulnerability and adaptation assessment and WHO guidance for climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable healthcare facilities (CRESHCF). The WHO hosted Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) provides additional resources and a platform for knowledge exchange for countries and partners.

WHO’s work in the Pacific

WHO is working with partners to support Pacific governments’ efforts to strengthen climate resiliency and respond to the health impacts of rising temperatures, rising seas and extreme weather events. Together WHO, partners and countries are strengthening the building blocks of health systems and facilities including, but not limited to, retrofitting health facilities with solar energy; monitoring drinking water quality; helping develop Health National Adaptation Plans (H-NAPs) for Climate Change; and facilitating community empowerment. Projects have or are currently being implemented across the Pacific in countries including Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.