The combined risks of the climate crisis and health emergency are placing undue stress on healthcare systems, especially in developing countries, such as the Philippines. Annual and increasing extreme events, such as typhoons and droughts, can further overwhelm public health systems. 

Beyond the impacts of extreme events, the changing climate affects human health, disease, and death by exacerbating pre-existing health conditions. Evidence shows that increasing temperature and changing rainfall patterns are driving a surge in vector-borne, respiratory, water-borne, heat-related, and food-borne diseases.

To highlight how the changing climate affects human health and the Philippine health sector, the OML Center has produced the Philippine Climate Change Assessment (PhilCCA) Sectoral Snapshot on Human Health. The content of the sectoral snapshot is derived from the findings of the PhilCCA working group reports produced by the Center, in partnership with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), from 2016 to 2018. 

The PhilCCA Sectoral Snapshots series focuses on the impacts of climate change on specific sectors and summarizes the scientific results and findings in the three working groups, including key research needs and recommendations, and presents them visually.

Patterned after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Reports, the PhilCCA synthesizes the state of scientific knowledge on climate change in the Philippines, provides an assessment of impacts, and identifies gaps in scientific literature. The working group reports from the first cycle focus on (1) the physical science basis, (2) impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability, and (3) mitigation of climate change” in 2018. The OML Center will begin work on the second cycle in 2021.

The Center developed the sectoral snapshot on Human Health with the assistance of National Academician Dr. Rex Cruz and Ms. Regine Joy Javier. 

Earlier this year, the OML Center made available the sectoral snapshot on Forests, highlighting the vulnerabilities of the Philippine forest sector to the climate crisis. Sectoral Snapshots for Water, Coastal and Marine Resources, and Agriculture and Food Security are currently being developed and will be available soon. 

Visit the OML Center’s PhilCCA page to download a copy of the PhilCCA Sectoral Snapshots on Human Health, Forests, and copies of the working group reports. 

You may also want to check out the series the OML Center produced which surfaced insights on important adjustments in our coping and preventive measures against COVID-19 and extreme weather.

Part 1: Typhoon Ambo threatens COVID-weary communities, modifications to current response strategies required

Part 2: Response and recovery to prevent climate-health system chaos

Part 3: No quick fixes: Defining a new normal that is pandemic-ready and climate-resilient