The Public Health Agency, within the Ministry of Health, has published New Zealand’s first Health National Adaptation Plan, establishing a new foundation for building climate resilience within our health system and beyond.
Deputy-Director General of Health, Public Health Agency, Dr Andrew Old says climate change is one of the leading threats to human health of our time, both globally and in New Zealand.
“Climate change can disrupt access to health services and people’s health directly by increasing the likelihood of periods of higher temperatures and dangerous weather events. creating the conditions for new diseases to flourish, such as dengue fever and malaria,” Dr Old says.
“It impacts both our environment and our ability to lead healthy and safe lives in that environment.
“Adapting to climate change is a big challenge for the health system but offers an even bigger opportunity. The work we are doing now to prepare for future climate change can have significant benefits in other areas of health. For example, policies to invest in energy-efficient and climate-resilient housing can significantly reduce the transmission of infectious diseases and help to prevent many non-communicable diseases.”
Actions outlined in the plan will strengthen climate adaptation leadership across the health system and within communities. These include:
- Undertake a national climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessment
- Develop a surveillance system for excess summer mortality, New Zealand-specific heatwave definitions, and work with other agencies to introduce a national heat warning system
- Commission a National Heat Vulnerability study to guide prioritisation of heatwave resilience and response and develop heat threshold guidance for specific settings and priority populations
- Evaluate the acute and long-term health and wellbeing impacts of the 2023 extreme weather events including the recovery and buyout process
- Assess transition risks and potential mitigation strategies for public health and health service delivery
- Assess the extent of health-related nature-based solutions and natural infrastructure in urban areas nationally, including tree coverage, urban food production, and green/blue space access
The Public Health Agency developed the Health National Adaptation Plan in close collaboration with Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ), working with a wide range of partners including local government, Māori organisations, academia and other non-health government agencies.
The plan supports the government’s focus on prevention, as outlined in the Government's Policy Statement on Health (GPS). Specifically, it prioritises investment in the health system to ensure there is appropriate capacity, capability, and infrastructure in place to prevent and respond to health security threats.
The Health National Adaptation Plan has been developed as an action arising from New Zealand’s first National Adaptation Plan (NAP). The national adaptation plan, published by the Ministry for the Environment in August 2022, sets out priorities over six years to help make our homes, infrastructure and communities more resilient to climate change.
