Description
Introduction/ Background
Climate change significantly aggravates human health challenges through complex interactions with environment, compounding pressure on all social determinants of health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change is projected to result in an additional 250,000 deaths annually between 2030 and 2050, primarily due to accelerated cases of undernutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. A recent study by World Bank suggests that adverse health effects could push 132 million people below poverty line, with 44 million specifically attributed to health-related impacts. Notably, over half of these repercussions are expected in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The heightened demand for health services due to climate change puts additional strain on health systems, particularly in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Designing feasible solutions is imperative to absorb the ‘climate impact’. During Covid pandemic, digital solutions proved to be the foundation to forge resilient health systems. However, despite testimonial success, a digital led operational framework to fortify climate change resistant health systems is lacking. Therefore, our paper aims to construct a narrative supporting a digital-first approach as a strategic means to address the adverse effects of climate change on health systems.
Methodology
We shall adopt a two-step methodology, comprising of a narrative review and key-Stakeholder interviews:
1. Thorough literature search using PubMed, Google Scholar etc. will be taken up, diving into a root cause analysis using approaches such as PESTLE to ascertain challenges and effect of climate change on the building blocks of health system.
2. Existing Peer-reviewed articles, government publications, guidelines, policies, operational frameworks published within last 5 years on climate change and health by WHO, Rockefeller foundation etc. will be mapped to determine their coherence and assess the existing gaps and disparities.
3. In-depth interviews with researchers, climate and technology professionals from government, private and development sectors will help delve deeper into the themes identified from the narrative review.
Results and Discussion
The collated information will be thematically analyzed to arrive at a set of recommendations, feasible and operable on ground, especially in the context of LMICs such as India. These will pertain to:
• Best practices, use cases of digital technologies to respond to climate change and health risks.
• Call for Investment in digital solutions to build climate resilient health systems that are evidence based and SMAART: sustainable, multisectoral, accessible, affordable, reimbursable, tailored.
This study will inform the development and add to the discourse around:
• Adaptive and Agile Digital framework to absorb and overcome the impact of climate change on health systems.
• Advocate for pathways to contextualize and customize existing Digital Public Goods (DPGs) and purpose newer DPGs to build climate resilience in health settings.
Conclusion
The comprehensive framework emanating as an outcome of the study can support policymakers while devising their country specific health strategies to combat climate change. It will also notify vital stakeholders across government, development partner landscape, academia – industry confluence to consider digital transformation tools as an integral pillar to mitigate the impact of climate change on health systems.
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