title: Health Impacts of Climate Change in Pacific Island Countries: A Regional Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Adaptation Priorities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Between 2010 and 2012, the World Health Organization Division of Pacific Technical Support led a regional climate change and health vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning project, in collaboration with health sector partners, in 13 Pacific island countries-Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We assessed the vulnerabilities of Pacific island countries to the health impacts of climate change and planned adaptation strategies to minimize such threats to health.
  
  
  METHODS
  This assessment involved a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. The former included descriptive epidemiology, time series analyses, Poisson regression, and spatial modeling of climate and climate-sensitive disease data, in the few instances where this was possible; the latter included wide stakeholder consultations, iterative consensus building, and expert opinion. Vulnerabilities were ranked using a "likelihood versus impact" matrix, and adaptation strategies were prioritized and planned accordingly.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The highest-priority climate-sensitive health risks in Pacific island countries included trauma from extreme weather events, heat-related illnesses, compromised safety and security of water and food, vector-borne diseases, zoonoses, respiratory illnesses, psychosocial ill-health, non-communicable diseases, population pressures, and health system deficiencies. Adaptation strategies relating to these climate change and health risks could be clustered according to categories common to many countries in the Pacific region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pacific island countries are among the most vulnerable in the world to the health impacts of climate change. This vulnerability is a function of their unique geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics combined with their exposure to changing weather patterns associated with climate change, the health risks entailed, and the limited capacity of the countries to manage and adapt in the face of such risks. Citation: McIver L, Kim R, Woodward A, Hales S, Spickett J, Katscherian D, Hashizume M, Honda Y, Kim H, Iddings S, Naicker J, Bambrick H, McMichael AJ, Ebi KL. 2016. Health impacts of climate change in Pacific island countries: a regional assessment of vulnerabilities and adaptation priorities. Environ Health Perspect 124:1707-1714; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509756.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Lachlan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McIver
authors.forename: Rokho
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Alistair
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hales
authors.forename: Jeffery
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spickett
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Katscherian
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Ho
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iddings
authors.forename: Jyotishma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Naicker
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bambrick
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McMichael
authors.forename: Kristie L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ebi
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D057231:Climate Change; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D010139:Pacific Islands; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D062486:Public Health Surveillance; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors