International authorities and humanitarian organizations collaborate to fortify the climate resilience within the health sector in Laos.
The Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is taking significant steps to address the impacts of climate change on its health system and communities. A collaborative project, spearheaded by Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia (HCWH SEA) and Save the Children International in Laos (SCiL), is strengthening the country's resilience to climate change.
This project, a key activity under the "Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao PDR Health System," is a critical component of the broader Green Climate Fund-supported initiative to enhance the climate resilience of Lao PDR's health system. The project spans five years and covers cities in Laos and Southeast Asia.
The initiative is designed to ensure that health facilities can continue to provide essential care during and after climate-related events. HCWH SEA will lead the implementation of a nationwide assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across 79 public healthcare facilities identified as vulnerable to climate risks.
The project focuses on collecting and analyzing GHG emission data from health facilities, building the capacity of healthcare personnel on climate and health, and developing a system to support facilities in updating their carbon footprint assessments and developing mitigation strategies.
The project also aims to build community capacity to better cope with the health impacts caused by climate change, enhancing local readiness and resilience. It emphasizes the use of climate data and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) indicators for monitoring and preparing for climate-related health risks.
Moreover, the project targets seven provinces most vulnerable to climate impacts, with the goal of developing clean, safe, and climate-resilient health facilities. This will not only contribute to climate mitigation goals but also support sustainable healthcare delivery during disasters.
The inception meeting for this project brought together representatives from the Ministry of Health, development partners, and technical experts to align on project goals and foster collaboration throughout the project's implementation phase.
The findings of this project are expected to contribute significantly to the country's national climate mitigation targets and support long-term health system resilience. The project is being published by EB Publishing.
[1] Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao PDR Health System [3] Green Climate Fund-supported initiative to enhance the climate resilience of Lao PDR's health system [5] Save the Children International in Laos (SCiL) and Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia (HCWH SEA)
- By implementing a nationwide assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia (HCWH SEA) aims to reduce carbon emissions from 79 vulnerable public healthcare facilities in Lao PDR as part of the Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao PDR Health System.
- The collaborative project, spearheaded by Save the Children International in Laos (SCiL) and Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia (HCWH SEA), focuses on building the capacity of healthcare personnel on climate and health, analyzing GHG emission data from health facilities, and developing a system to support facilities in updating their carbon footprint assessments and creating mitigation strategies.
- The Green Climate Fund-supported initiative, which includes the project Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao PDR Health System, is aimed at enhancing the climate resilience of Lao PDR's health system to adapt to climate change and minimize its impact on the health system and communities, aligning with health-and-wellness, environmental-science, and climate-change goals.
