Barriers to Climate Disaster risk Management for Public Health: Lessons from a Pilot Survey of National Public Health Representatives

Objectives: This study sought to examine current national disaster risk management capacities, and identify governance barriers to strengthening national preparedness for responding to public health emergencies, associated with the anticipated climate-driven intensification of natural disaster cycles. Methods: A mixed-methods online survey, assessing broader governance constraints to climate change adaptation (CCA) for public health, was distributed to representatives of national public health associations, and societies of 82 member countries under the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Specific questions relevant to disaster risk management capacities and barriers were analyzed as part of a narrowed focus on the CCA subdomain of emergency preparedness. Results: Existence of some technology, infrastructure, and/ or human resources, necessary to develop early warning and other surveillance systems for climate-related health risks was reported by 9 out of 11 responding countries. However, 7 reported persistent limitations and/ or regional discrepancies. Most significant identified barriers to strengthening emergency preparedness at the national level included governance coordination challenges, and, in the case of many developing countries, technical, medical, and human resource shortages. Conclusions: The development of new frameworks for intersectoral governance and large-scale resource mobilization will prove crucial to ongoing efforts to strengthen national climate-health resiliency and prepare for disaster-associated health threats.