Search

Introduction: Climate factors influence the state of human health and wellbeing. Climate-related threats are particularly being experienced by vulnerable populations in Africa. A Question (Q)-Storming session was convened at an international climate adaptation conference. It promoted dialog among a diverse spectrum of researchers, climate and medical scientists, health professionals, national government officials, civil society, business, and international governing organizations. The session identified approaches for the effective integration of health within African national climate adaptation policies. Materials and methods: Two organizations partnered to convene the session at the Adaptations Futures 2018 Conference in Cape Town. Q-storming (which is an inverse approach to brainstorming) was applied to extract ideas from all participants. Four topics were presented during the session: (i) adaptive capacities related to climate change and infectious diseases; (ii) adaptive capacity of African governments in relation to health and climate change; (iii) making climate science work to protect the health of vulnerable populations; and (iv) making climate-health research usable. Results: Nine cross-cutting adaptation themes were generated (i.e. key definitions, adaptive capacity, health sector priorities, resources, operational capacities and procedures, contextual conditions, information pathways, and information utility). The Q-Storming approach was a valuable tool for improving the understanding of the complexities of climate-health research collaborations, and priority identification for improved adaptation and service delivery. Conclusion: Concerted recognition regarding difficulties in linking climate science and health vulnerability at the interface of practitioners and decision-makers is required, for better integration and use of climate-health research in climate adaptation in Africa. This can be achieved by innovations offered through Q-Storming.

Introduction: Over the past 10–15 years there has been increasing attention to the potential impact of extreme weather events (EWE) on children's mental health. Because sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing an increase in the frequency and severity of these events, we decided it was necessary to conduct a systematic review. The focus was to examine research findings on the direct and indirect impacts of EWE on the mental health of children and adolescents living in SSA to inform protective adaptation strategies and promote resilience. Materials and Methods: In 2020 we conducted a systematic review in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and a review of the grey literature. The systematic review and grey literature search identified 1342 studies. Results: The titles and abstracts of 858 articles and grey literature were assessed for eligibility (e.g., mental health outcomes for children and adolescents linked to exposure to an EWE in SSA) with 21 articles identified for full-text review. Of these, only two were eligible for full review. Both articles focused on extreme flooding events and associated psychological distress. Several protective factors were identified (e.g., age, sex, encouragement, and shared hardship) that ameliorated the psychological distress. Discussion: There is an alarming lack of research focusing specifically on the mental health of youth exposed to EWE in SSA, where EWE, especially extreme heat, flooding and droughts, continue to increase. The indication is that children and adolescents living in SSA are at risk of mental health impacts such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. With the severe shortage of SSA-specific research, SSA decision-makers, planners and adaptation strategy developers are not guided by local and regional evidence and may be missing areas of concern and opportunities for prevention.

Introduction: The intersection of health and climate change is often absent or under-represented in sub-national government strategies. This analysis of the literature, using a new methodological framework, highlights priority focus areas for a sub-national government response to health and climate change, using the Western Cape (WC) province of South Africa as a case study. Methods: A methodological framework was created to conduct a review of priority focus areas relevant for sub-national governments. The framework encompassed the establishment of a Project Steering Group consisting of relevant, sub-national stakeholders (e.g. provincial officials, public and environmental health specialists and academics); an analysis of local climatic projections as well as an analysis of global, national and sub-national health risk factors and impacts. Results: Globally, the discussion of health and climate change adaptation strategies in sub-national, or provincial government is often limited. For the case study presented, multiple health risk factors were identified. WC climatic projections include a warmer and potentially drier future with an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. WC government priority focus areas requiring further research on health risk factors include: population migration and environmental refugees, land use change, violence and human conflict and vulnerable groups. WC government priority focus areas for further research on health impacts include: mental ill-health, non-communicable diseases, injuries, poisonings (e.g. pesticides), food and nutrition insecurity-related diseases, water- and food-borne diseases and reproductive health. These areas are currently under-addressed, or not addressed at all, in the current provincial climate change strategy. Conclusions: Sub-national government adaptation strategies often display limited discussion on the health and climate change intersect. The methodological framework presented in this case study can be globally utilized by other sub-national governments for decision-making and development of climate change and health adaptation strategies. Additionally, due to the broad range of sectoral issues identified, a primary recommendation from this study is that sub-national governments internationally should consider a “health and climate change in all policies” approach when developing adaptation and mitigation strategies to address climate change. Keywords: Climate change, Environmental health, Low- and middle-income countries, Adaptation, Sub-national, Climate health impacts