Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Philippine Health Sector: Challenges and Way Forward

It is now widely held that climate change impacts developing countries with poor adaptive capacity. This requires countries and governments to develop measures to reduce its adverse impacts. More so, disasters are major development issues that widen socio-economic inequalities. The Philippines, being one of the most hazard and disaster-prone countries in the world, needs to have effective Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) programs in place. The Philippine health sector has a critical role in CCA and DRR, but there are challenges that must first be addressed so it can perform its role of managing health risks. This paper presented a background of the problem, identified challenges, and proposed solutions to inform policies, plans, and programs. The paper was able to find out that the challenges were CCA-DRR integration, health risk governance, adaptive capacity, and use of research and information for action. The discussion can be utilized by the health sector for policy development and capacity building. It also aimed to build a solid case for effective CCA and DRR in the health sector from a development perspective.