WHO Publishes Quality Criteria for Health National Adaptation Plans

Climate change is already impacting human health and health systems, and the burden on communities and health systems is expected to further increase as temperatures rise.

To respond to the growing impacts of climate change and build climate-resilient health systems, countries may develop and implement a health national adaptation plan (HNAP) as a part of the national adaptation plan process.

The new WHO Quality Criteria for Health National Adaptation Plans (HNAPs) provides policy makers and ministries of health with good practices and quality criteria for health adaptation planning. The guidance draws on experience gained since 2012 through WHO’s support to countries in developing and implementing health adaptation plans, and assistance to countries for overcoming challenges in HNAP development.

These quality criteria cover six topic areas that are crucial for health adaptation planning:

1. Leadership and enabling environment
2. Cross-sectoral coordination and policy coherence
3. Comprehensive coverage of climate-sensitive health risks
4. Comprehensive coverage of adaptation options and actions
5. Resourcing
6. Monitoring, evaluation and reporting

Experiences from countries that have begun this process, developed an HNAP, and/or started implementation, are incorporated throughout the document to demonstrate various practical applications of the quality criteria.

WHO provides a range of technical support to Member States for climate change and health, including the development and implementation of HNAPs and accessing finance health and climate change.

The Quality Criteria for HNAPs can be downloaded here and should be used in conjunction with the WHO guidance to protect health from climate change through health adaptation planning.