Ä¢¹½´«Ã½

The objective of the Climate and Health Vulnerability Assessment (CHVA) is to assist decision-makers in Ethiopia with planning effective adaptation measures to address climate-related health risks. Climate change, coupled with human-induced health stressors, exacerbates existing health burdens, and creates new health risks. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns affect the country and burden a variety of climate-sensitive health risks while simultaneously impacting the functioning and capacity of Ethiopia's health system.

Based on climate and health systems synthesis, this document recommends the following actions to assist decision-makers with planning effective adaptation measures to address climate-related health risks: → 

• Integrate health climate adaptation planning at all administrative levels, which includes formalizing and resourcing the National Climate Change and Health Technical Working Group led by the Ministry of Health and enhance climate-related communications for government officials and the general public.
• Develop climate-related educational and training materials and implement training for healthcare workers that would allow them to understand the health impacts of climate change.
• Support climate-health-related research to develop surveillance of climate-sensitive diseases, climate-informed early warning systems, and response mechanisms and guide future vulnerability adaptation assessments.
• Improve healthcare accessibility to these facilities by enhancing the transportation network to ensure access to facilities during extreme weather events.
• Enhance the health system resilience via the development and implementation of national building codes/permits, which would consider sustainable energy (e.g., solarization of healthcare facilities) and water supplies, storm drains and sewers, and sanitation services.
• Develop regulations that support sustainable healthcare waste management and policies on key environmental health services and determinants; this could include establishing and maintaining a climate and environmental health database to support these regulations that would allow for multisectoral engagement and inform disease control and prevention programs ahead of potential extreme weather events.