• español
    • English
    • português
  • English 
    • español
    • English
    • português
  • IRIS PAHO Home
  • PAHO website
  • Indexes
  • All Collections
  • About IRIS
  • Institutional Memory
  • Contact
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
View Item 
  •   IRIS PAHO Home
  • 1.PAHO Headquarters / Sede de la OPS
  • Scientific Journals and Newsletters / Revistas Científicas y Boletines
  • Pan American Journal of Public Health
  • View Item
  •   IRIS PAHO Home
  • 1.PAHO Headquarters / Sede de la OPS
  • Scientific Journals and Newsletters / Revistas Científicas y Boletines
  • Pan American Journal of Public Health
  • View Item

Enhancing the sustainability and climate resiliency of health care facilities: a comparison of initiatives and toolkits

Thumbnail
View/Open
v40n3a5-174-80.pdf (1.845Mb)
Date
2016-09
Author
Balbus, John
Berry, Peter
Brettle, Meagan
Jagnarine-Azan, Shalini
Silva, Agnes Soares da
Ugarte, Ciro
Varangu, Linda
Prats, Elena Villalobos
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Extreme weather events have revealed the vulnerability of health care facilities and the extent of devastation to the community when they fail. With climate change anticipated to increase extreme weather and its impacts worldwide—severe droughts, floods, heat waves, and related vector-borne diseases—health care officials need to understand and address the vulnerabilities of their health care systems and take action to improve resiliency in ways that also meet sustainability goals. Generally, the health sector is among a country’s largest consumers of energy and a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Now it has the opportunity lead climate mitigation, while reducing energy, water, and other costs. This Special Report summarizes several initiatives and compares three toolkits for implementing sustainability and resiliency measures for health care facilities: the Canadian Health Care Facility Climate Change Resiliency Toolkit, the U.S. Sustainable and Climate Resilient Health Care Facilities Toolkit, and the PAHO SMART Hospitals Toolkit of the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization. These tools and the lessons learned can provide a critical starting point for any health system in the Americas.
 
Los sucesos climáticos extremos han puesto de manifiesto la vulnerabilidad de las instalaciones de atención sanitaria y el grado de devastación infligido a la comunidad cuando estas fallan. Ante un cambio climático que preanuncia un aumento de los sucesos climáticos extremos y sus respectivos impactos en todo el mundo (sequías, inundaciones y olas de calor intensas, así como enfermedades relacionadas transmitidas por vectores) los profesionales sanitarios deben comprender y hacer frente a las vulnerabilidades de sus sistemas de atención de salud, y emprender acciones que apunten a mejorar su resistencia de manera sostenible. Por lo general, el sector salud es uno de los mayores consumidores de energía de un país y una fuente significativa de emisión de gases de efecto invernadero. En la actualidad tiene la oportunidad de liderar las acciones de mitigación frente al cambio climático, y a la vez de reducir los costos de energía y agua, entre otros. En este informe especial se resumen varias iniciativas y se comparan tres recursos dirigidos a implementar medidas de sostenibilidad y resistencia para instalaciones de atención sanitaria: la Herramienta de Resistencia ante el Cambio Climático para Instalaciones de Atención Sanitaria (Canadá), la Herramienta de Resistencia ante el Cambio Climático para Instalaciones de Atención Sanitaria (Estados Unidos) y la Herramienta Hospitales Inteligentes de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud/ Organización Mundial de la Salud. Estas herramientas y las lecciones aprendidas a través de ellas proporcionan un punto de partida crucial para todos los sistemas de salud de la Región de las Américas.
 
Translated title
Mejora de la sostenibilidad y la resistencia de las instalaciones de atención sanitaria ante el cambio climático: iniciativas y recursos
Series
Rev Panam Salud Publica;40(3),sept. 2016
Subject
Climate Effects; Climate Change; Prevention and Mitigation; Health Care Facilities, Manpower, and Services; Sustainable Development; Preparedness; Americas; Cambio climatico; Efectos del Clima; Prevención y Mitigación; Planificación en Desastres; Instituciones de Salud; Desarrollo Sostenible
URI
https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/31233
Citation
Balbus J, Berry P, Brettle M, Jagnarine S, Soares A, Ugarte C, et al. Enhancing the sustainability and climate resiliency of health care facilities: a comparison of initiatives and toolkits. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2016;40(3):174–80
Collections
  • Pan American Journal of Public Health

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

  • Thumbnail

    Caribbean Action Plan on Health and Climate Change 

    Pan American Health Organization; Communicable Diseases and Environmental Determinants of Health (CDE) (Washington, D.C., PAHO, 2019-02)
    The Caribbean Action Plan on Health and Climate Change was developed in consultation with countries through preparatory meetings and by convening regional health and environment leaders of the Caribbean during the Third ...
  • Thumbnail

    Carbon pollution increases health inequities: lessons in resilience from the most vulnerable 

    Ebi, Kristie L.; Fawcett, Stephen B.; Spiegel, Jerry; Tovalin, Horacio (2016-09)
    Climate change is a social justice as well as an environmental issue. The magnitude and pattern of changes in weather and climate variables are creating differential exposures, vulnerabilities, and health risks that ...
  • Thumbnail

    Ensuring health equity during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of public health infrastructure 

    Benjamin, Georges C. (2020-10-26)
    [ABSTRACT]. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly stressed public health systems around the world and exposed the gaps in health care for underserved and vulnerable populations. In the context of the social determinants ...

Browse

All of IRIS PAHOCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsSeries TitleType of materialLanguageCategoryTechnical Unit/Country OfficeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsSeries TitleType of materialLanguageCategoryTechnical Unit/Country Office

Statistics

View Usage Statistics

Pan American Health Organization
World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Americas
525 Twenty-third Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037, United States of America
Tel.: +1 (202) 974-3000 Fax: +1 (202) 974-3663
email: libraryhq@paho.org

Links

  • PAHO Featured Publications
  • WHO Digital Library (IRIS)
  • Virtual Health Library (VHL)
  • Global Index Medicus (GIM)