Cited by 239Climate Change and Health ImpactsClimate Change and Environmental ImpactClimate Change Communication and Perception

Health Impacts of Climate Change in Pacific Island Countries: A Regional Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Adaptation Priorities

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McIver, Lachlan, Kim, Rokho, Woodward, Alistair, Hales, Simon, Spickett, Jeffery, Katscherian, Dianne, Hashizume, Masahiro, Honda, Yasushi +6 more·2016·Environmental Health Perspectives

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Between 2010 and 2012, the World Health Organization Division of Pacific Technical Support led a regional climate change and health vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning project, in collaboration with health sector partners, in 13 Pacific island countries-Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the vulnerabilities of Pacific island countries to the health impacts of climate change and planned adaptation strategies to minimize such threats to health. METHODS: This assessment involved a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. The former included descriptive epidemiology, time series analyses, Poisson regression, and spatial modeling of climate and climate-sensitive disease data, in the few instances where this was possible; the latter included wide stakeholder consultations, iterative consensus building, and expert opinion. Vulnerabilities were ranked using a "likelihood versus impact" matrix, and adaptation strategies were prioritized and planned accordingly. RESULTS: The highest-priority climate-sensitive health risks in Pacific island countries included trauma from extreme weather events, heat-related illnesses, compromised safety and security of water and food, vector-borne diseases, zoonoses, respiratory illnesses, psychosocial ill-health, non-communicable diseases, population pressures, and health system deficiencies. Adaptation strategies relating to these climate change and health risks could be clustered according to categories common to many countries in the Pacific region. CONCLUSION: Pacific island countries are among the most vulnerable in the world to the health impacts of climate change. This vulnerability is a function of their unique geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics combined with their exposure to changing weather patterns associated with climate change, the health risks entailed, and the limited capacity of the countries to manage and adapt in the face of such risks. Citation: McIver L, Kim R, Woodward A, Hales S, Spickett J, Katscherian D, Hashizume M, Honda Y, Kim H, Iddings S, Naicker J, Bambrick H, McMichael AJ, Ebi KL. 2016. Health impacts of climate change in Pacific island countries: a regional assessment of vulnerabilities and adaptation priorities. Environ Health Perspect 124:1707-1714; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509756.

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  • Mental health was identified as a high-priority climate-sensitive health risk in eight out of 13 Pacific Island countries.

    “Mental health was identified as a high-priority climate-sensitive health risk in eight out of the 13 countries [99].”

    From Climate Change and Mental Health: A Scoping Review (2021) · cites this paper as [99]

    The Abstract Results list psychosocial ill-health among the highest-priority climate-sensitive health risks, and the Results discuss disorders of mental/psychosocial health as a concern in the Pacific. The retrieved portion of Table 3 lists 13 countries but does not show the mental-health row, so the specific count of eight countries cannot be verified from the passages available. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
McIver, L., Kim, R., Woodward, A., Hales, S., Spickett, J., Katscherian, D., Hashizume, M., Honda, Y., Kim, H., Iddings, S., Naicker, J., Bambrick, H., McMichael, A. J., & Ebi, K. L.
Affiliations
  • Australian National University (AU)
  • World Health Organization (CH)
  • University of Auckland (NZ)
  • University of Otago (NZ)
  • Curtin University (AU)
  • Nagasaki University (JP)
  • University of Tsukuba (JP)
  • Seoul National University (KR)
  • Western Sydney University (AU)
  • University of Washington (US)
Corresponding author
McIver, Lachlan
Venue
Environmental Health Perspectives
Published
2015-12-08
Volume
124
Issue
11
Pages
1707-1714
ISSN
  • 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-9924
OpenAlex
W2423872746
Cited by
238
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 8 · 2013: 1
FWCI
9.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
  • Seoul National University Open Repository (Seoul National University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
World Health Organization
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Environmental Impact
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
Keywords
health impacts of climate change, climate change vulnerability, climate change adaptation, Pacific Island countries, heat-related illness, vector-borne diseases, zoonoses, respiratory diseases, non-communicable diseases, food and water security, health system capacity, adaptation planning
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Physiological, Health Status Indicators, Humans, Pacific Islands, Socioeconomic Factors, Poisson Distribution, Climate Change, Public Health Surveillance

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