WHO’s dynamic dashboard for island states highlights barriers and progress on climate change and health – Antigua and Barbuda

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face particularly acute health risks due to the climate crisis. Warming temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, rising sea levels and extreme weather events lead to increased risks of injury, death, food insecurity and the spread of vector-borne diseases, water and food.

Despite these growing challenges, island states are at the forefront of the global response to climate change by advocating to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C; implement adaptation actions; and building health systems that are climate resilient and environmentally sustainable.

A new dynamic data dashboard for SIDS, launched today, illustrates the progress made by island states to date in responding to the health threats of climate change. The interactive dashboard, featuring data from the WHO and UNFCCC health and climate change country profiles, visualizes key health and climate change indicators to enable policy makers in SIDS to:

1 . Evaluate the implementation of policies and plans;

2 . Identify gaps in evidence;

3 . Better understand barriers to achieving health adaptation and mitigation priorities, including for implementation and monitoring.

Alongside the Dynamic SIDS Dashboard, WHO is also publishing a series of SIDS Health and Climate Change Country Profiles, adding to the existing library of these national products.

WHO publishes new country profiles for the Dominican Republic, Mauritius and Sao Tome and Principe. Country profiles present national climate projections; indicators on health vulnerabilities and health impacts of climate change; policy responses to health and climate change; and recommendations for addressing national health threats posed by climate change. Additional SIDS country profiles will be published in 2021.

The WHO SIDS Dynamic Data Dashboard and Country Profiles complement each other and are part of the WHO Special Initiative on Climate Change and Health in SIDS. The SIDS Special Initiative aims to provide health authorities in island states with political, technical, scientific and financial support to improve understanding and address the health impacts of climate change.

Data presented in the dynamic dashboard allows readers to view data at the global, regional or national level, while SIDS country profiles provide detailed information on specific health and climate challenges in a given country. Together, the Interactive SIDS Report and the SIDS Country Profiles are therefore invaluable tools for showing the global, regional and national progress that SIDS are making in addressing challenges related to health and climate change.

Learn more

SIDS Dynamic Data Dashboard

Country Profiles on Health and Climate Change

WHO Special Initiative on Climate Change and Health in Small Island Developing States