On July 25, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Global Health Forum (GHF) held a session titled “Actively Responding to Climate Change for the Common Health of Humanity and the Planet”. Pradip Paudel, Honble Minister, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal; Saia Ma’u Piukala, Regional Director, World Health Organization Western Pacific Region; Wang Quanyi, Director General, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Nabeel Goheer, Regional Director for Asia, Middle East & Europe, PATH – Program for Appropriate Technology in Health; Cunrui Huang, Associate Dean, Vanke School of Public Health & Director, Healthy Cities Research Center, Tsinghua University; Min Hung Cheng, Chief Executive Officer, the Global Asia Insurance Partnership (GAIP), shared their insights during a panel discussion moderated by Kamran Abbasi, Editor-in-Chief of The BMJ (British Medical Journal).
Participants called for climate change to be placed at the core of the global health agenda, underscoring the urgent reality that “Climate equals health.” Increasingly frequent extreme weather events, air pollution, glacial melt, and the spread of vector-borne diseases are intensifying global public health risks, posing particularly severe threats to developing countries with fragile ecosystems. Panelists highlighted that climate change is already having a marked impact on maternal and child health, fertility rates, and other population health indicators. Public health policies must prioritize the protection of high-risk groups and urgently reform health financing and coverage systems to meet these emerging challenges. The international community must acknowledge the growing disease burden linked to climate change, placing it at the center of efforts to adjust and improve global public health systems. This requires commensurate international attention and the allocation of adequate resources.
To address climate-induced health crises such as extreme weather events and air pollution, participants called for accelerating the development of a climate-resilient global health system. This requires a systemic strengthening of public health emergency response capabilities and the deep integration of climate considerations into risk identification, early warning, and intervention mechanisms. There is also an urgent need to establish cross-sectoral and cross-regional governance platforms to promote the sharing of global experience and coordinated policymaking. Developed countries must fulfill their financing commitments and prioritize the enhancement of health infrastructure and emergency response capacities in vulnerable regions. At the same time, innovative financing models should be adopted—such as insurance-based incentives for prevention, improved access to microcredit, and mechanisms for shared responsibility among stakeholders.
Participants emphasized that technological innovation is a cornerstone in addressing climate-related health risks. It is imperative to integrate climate and public health data systems to enable real-time monitoring, forecasting, and early warning. Institutional silos must be broken down to promote open and secure sharing of environmental, meteorological, and health data, thereby establishing a unified data infrastructure. At the same time, the application of AI and digital technologies should be deepened to accurately identify risk hotspots and inform decision-making. Scalable, affordable digital health solutions at the community level should be widely promoted to significantly reduce out-of-pocket healthcare expenses and enhance accessibility and system resilience. At the national level, a coordinated and integrated surveillance system should be established—one that combines data on human health, animal health, and the environment—to advance the “One Health” approach and improve understanding and prevention of emerging risks. The participants called on global partners to strengthen capacity building and provide accessible, affordable technological support, working together to build a resilient future of health and safety.
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原标题：《Actively Responding to Climate Change for Humanity and Planet》
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