Assessing how South African Development Community Countries' National Adaptation Planning addresses health impacts: A scoping review

Meyer, Renate

Assessing how South African Development Community Countries' National Adaptation Planning addresses health impacts: A scoping review

Thesis / Dissertation

2023

Abstract

The impacts of climate variability and climate change are recognised as key challenges of the 21st century. The African continent has heightened vulnerability to the impacts of a changing climate as it is heavily reliant on agriculture for food and jobs; and experiences high levels of poverty, morbidity, situations of violence and lower levels of access to education, healthcare, nutrition and weakened social safety nets. The sub-Saharan African region is projected to have the global highest burden of disease by 2030 due to climate change. Therefore, it is key that countries have effective adaptation plans in place and that these plans are being implemented. This study reviewed available research to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and their ability to address current and future climate change-related human health impacts. The study focused on five neighbouring countries, namely Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Their spatial proximity afforded the opportunity to a) examine NAPs' efficacy in enabling planned implementation; b) illustrate overlaps in climate and health impacts between neighbouring countries; and c) analyse whether cross-border intergovernmental collaboration has (or could be) implemented to mitigate against and adapt to the effects of climate change on human health. Part A of the thesis presents the objectives and methods used to examine the inclusion of human health in the selected countries' NAPs. This included an extensive electronic literature search which used a combination of keywords, Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms and free text words. These were assessed against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Records extracted from database searches were tabled using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses- Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) template. A total of 255 records were identified in the initial screening and 10 records were included in the full text analysis. In addition, 56 identified records by other methods (namely government reports and national communications sourced from the Internet) were included in the data extraction chart, which was developed with the aim of evaluating and assessing the national strategies and plans in relation to country-specific climate and health impacts and outcomes. Based on the full text analysis, data extraction of the included studies (both from databases and other methods) was conducted. Part B of the thesis is a journal-ready article presenting the findings of the narrative scoping review. The most common climate change hazard categories and related health impacts included: an increase in temperature contributing to food and water insecurity within geographic areas; an increase in precipitation which contributed to flooding and associated with a rise in water- and vector-borne 3 diseases; temperature increase contributing to health outcomes such as heat stress, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and violence; and an increase in emissions and air pollution with the health impacts of increased respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The consolidated data extraction table is available on ZivaHub (Figshare for Institutions). Since sub-Saharan Africa faces immense challenges to mitigate and adapt to climate change and human health related impacts, this study assisted in identifying strengths and weaknesses of a sample of SADC NAPs. It also contributed to research on health and climate change within the SADC region, where such information is under-represented at a global level. While the evidence from the included studies is limited, this study highlights gaps in literature to encourage further research into understanding the context for national level strategies and implementation plans regarding the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on health, particularly in vulnerable groups. Part C of the thesis contains the associated appendices of both Parts A and B.

Keywords

Public Health

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