Climate Change and Health in Canada

Ford, Lea Berrang

The good news is that opportunities for avoidance of, and adaptation to, climate impacts on health are available, feasible, and in many cases of benefit to improved health in Canada more broadly (42) . Given the unpredictable nature of many impacts, adaptation, prevention, and preparedness measures that increase overall health system capacity are most sensible and cost-effective -so called 'win win' or 'no regrets' responses (18, (85) (86) (87) (88) (89) . These include: Increased surveillance, particularly of disease vectors, water quality, and air pollutants; Integration of climate projections into emergency planning and disaster preparedness (79) ; Improved access to preventive care and primary physician care to promote early detection of new disease emergence or shifting disease incidence; Integration of climate change considerations into education programming for medical students and primary health care workers; Integration of climate projection parameters into urban planning to increase protection against extreme weather events (55, (90) (91) (92) ; Increased monitoring and evaluation of food production systems and water monitoring safety given climate projections (26, 41, 63, 68) ; Development of heat wave alerts and responses, and mitigation of urban heat islands (41, 52, 53, 91) , and; Increased multi-national support for improved health capacity in low and middle income countries.