Premium
Potential Health Outcome and Vulnerability Indicators of Climate Change for Australia: Evidence for Policy Development
Author(s) -
Navi Maryam,
Pisaniello Dino,
Hansen Alana,
Nitschke Monika
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8500.12202
Subject(s) - vulnerability (computing) , climate change , environmental planning , context (archaeology) , health impact assessment , environmental resource management , environmental health , relevance (law) , business , geography , public health , environmental science , political science , medicine , computer science , ecology , computer security , biology , nursing , archaeology , law
There is a growing need to develop health‐related indicators for climate change to assist in policy, planning, and evaluation of preventive measures. To date, no environmental health indicators of climate change have been developed specifically for Australia. We conducted a review of the Australian literature relevant to climate change health impacts to find out which exposure–response relationships could be readily used as indicators. The bulk of the literature relates to direct health‐related outcomes of extreme heat, and indirect outcomes associated with air pollution and infectious disease agents. Based on this information, evidence‐based indicators were chosen using the modified Driving force‐Pressure‐State‐Exposure‐Effect‐Action framework. Three groups of health outcome indicators are proposed: direct heat related, air pollution related, and climate‐sensitive infectious diseases. Indicators of human vulnerability to these outcomes are also included. The potential usefulness of and barriers to their use are discussed in the context of relevance for policy makers.