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Researchers have begun work on a pioneering study to investigate how climate change is affecting healthcare system resilience around the world.

The £3m project, called RESHAPE – RESilience in HeAlth Post-Extreme weather events – brings together academics and communities from around the globe to explore the different ways in which people are responding to environmental challenges that affect hospitals and healthcare providers.

The team are working on the ground in Malawi, Vietnam, Tanzania, and Uganda, each of which faces an increase in extreme weather events associated with climate change and threaten the provision of critical healthcare to millions of people.


Flooding in Vietnam seeing homes and healthcare organisations regularly hit

Â鶹´«Ã½ Leicester (Â鶹´«Ã½)’s Dr Brahim Herbane, who has spent years researching business resilience in a variety of settings, is the business continuity lead for the project team and will be visiting each area to meet with partners and stakeholders as the research progresses.  

“The premise is that the effects of climate change are increasing, and we are seeing more extreme weather events which will then impact on healthcare. The research looks at how healthcare systems currently mitigate those impacts and how we can co-create more resilient systems.

“There is a real opportunity to make a difference to healthcare systems in low-income and middle-income countries, but also to learn from resilience of the global south which faces extreme weather events on an increasingly regular basis and to bring that knowledge into how we look at organizational resilience more widely.”

Dr Herbane got an insight into some of the challenges faced during an early trip with the research team to Malawi: “We went to a village for a community engagement and involvement meeting and it was raining  intensely, to the point where we couldn’t actually hear each other in the meeting because the rain was hitting the metal roof of our building so heavily. We just about managed to leave the village through flooded roads and heavy mud to find the hospital where we were due to visit next was completely flooded.

“The hospital staff were stoical about the disruption they faced because it is a common occurrence for them, but to witness a torrent of water running through a hospital building and a flooded operating theatre served as a reminder of why this research project will be beneficial to vulnerable communities.”

 

Deforestation in Malawi has exacerbated the effects of climate change

The research, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), aims to shed light on these challenges and identify effective strategies to mitigate the worst impacts, providing a roadmap for protecting healthcare systems in the face of an escalating climate crisis.

“We are looking at what is in place on the ground to respond to and recover from extreme weather events ” said Dr Herbane. “Ultimately, we want to develop a new international standard for healthcare system resilience and to reshape healthcare resilience policy. For me personally, the chance to apply our multidisciplinary expertise on the ground is something I am looking forward to.”

The work is being funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) using UK international development funding from the UK Government to support global health research.

The project is led by University of East Anglia and involves the Kamuza University of Health Sciences and Patient and Community Welfare Foundation, Malawi; Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit in Tanzania; Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda; Hanoi University of Public Health, Vietnam; University of Leeds, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Â鶹´«Ã½.