title: Adapting to the health impacts of climate change in a sustainable manner.
abstract: The climate is changing and this poses significant threats to human health. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing Pacific Island countries and territories due to their unique geophysical features, and their social, economic and cultural characteristics. The Pacific region also faces challenges with widely dispersed populations, limited resources and fragmented health systems. Over the past few years, there has been a substantial increase in international aid for health activities aimed at adapting to the threats of climate change. This funding needs to be used strategically to ensure an effective approach to reducing the health risk from climate change. Respecting the principles of development effectiveness will result in more effective and sustainable adaptation, in particular, 1) processes should be owned and driven by local communities, 2) investments should be aligned with existing national priorities and policies, and 3) existing systems must not be ignored, but rather expanded upon and reinforced.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, BP D5 - 98848, Noumea, New Caledonia. damianh@spc.int.
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.affiliation: Public Health Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, BP D5 - 98848, Noumea, New Caledonia. adamr@spc.int.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: Public Health Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, BP D5 - 98848, Noumea, New Caledonia. christellel@spc.int.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lepers
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, School of Population Health, Herston Road, 4006, Herston, Qld, Australia. m.durham@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Durham
authors.affiliation: Visiting Professorial Fellow, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong, 2252, Wollongong, NSW, Australia. b.johann9@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Brown University, Brown Street, Box 7178 69, 02912, Providence, RI, USA. alexis_durand@brown.edu.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.affiliation: CSIRO (Land and Water Division, Black Mountain), Clunes Ross Street, Action, ACT 0200, Canberra City, Australia. padma.lal@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Padma Narsey
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.affiliation: Public Health Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, BP D5 - 98848, Noumea, New Caledonia. yvans@spc.int.
authors.forename: Yvan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Souares
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D057231:Climate Change; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D006291:Health Policy; D006304:Health Status; D038622:Internationality