Rychetnik Lucie, Sainsbury Peter, Stewart Greg
School of Medicine Sydney, University of Notre Dame Australia.
School of Public Health, University of Sydney.
Aust Health Rev. 2019 Jan;43(6):601-610. doi: 10.1071/AH18153.
Climate change adaptation can be defined as a form of risk management (i.e. assessing climate change-related risks and responding appropriately so that the risks can be pre-emptively minimised and managed as they arise). Adapting to climate change by hospital and community health services will entail responding to changing health needs of the local population, and to the likely effects of climate change on health service resources, workforce and infrastructure. In this paper we apply a model that health services can use to predict and respond to climate change risks and illustrate this with reference to Sydney's Local Health Districts (LHDs). We outline the climate change predictions for the Sydney metropolitan area, discuss the resulting vulnerabilities for LHDs and consider the potential of LHDs to respond. Three 'core business' categories are examined: (1) ambulance, emergency and acute health care; (2) routine health care; and (3) population and preventative health services. We consider the key climate change risks and vulnerabilities of the LHDs' workforce, facilities and finances, and some important transboundary issues. Many Australian health services have existing robust disaster plans and management networks. These could be expanded to incorporate local climate and health adaptation plans.
气候变化适应可被定义为一种风险管理形式（即评估与气候变化相关的风险并做出适当应对，以便在风险出现时能够预先将其最小化并进行管理）。医院和社区卫生服务机构适应气候变化将需要应对当地人口不断变化的健康需求，以及气候变化对卫生服务资源、劳动力和基础设施可能产生的影响。在本文中，我们应用一种卫生服务机构可用于预测和应对气候变化风险的模型，并以悉尼地方卫生区（LHDs）为例进行说明。我们概述了悉尼大都市区的气候变化预测，讨论了LHDs由此产生的脆弱性，并考虑了LHDs做出应对的潜力。研究了三个“核心业务”类别：（1）救护车、急诊和急性医疗保健；（2）常规医疗保健；（3）人群和预防保健服务。我们考虑了LHDs的劳动力、设施和财务方面的关键气候变化风险和脆弱性，以及一些重要的跨界问题。许多澳大利亚卫生服务机构已经拥有完善的灾难计划和管理网络。这些可以扩展以纳入当地的气候和健康适应计划。
