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The Landscape of Climate Change in Southeast Asia
The climate crisis is here and is affecting all of us on a global scale. Southeast Asia is among the most vulnerable regions in the world to be impacted, experiencing rising sea levels and temperatures, changing weather patterns such as typhoons & droughts, and more. All of these environmental effects of climate change are causing significant harm, especially to impoverished rural communities that rely on fishing and farming who already have highly limited access to quality, affordable health services. The economic and health impacts of climate change will further compound these disparities, creating humanitarian disasters across the region.
The Economy and The Environment: Agriculture
Agricultural resources are a main source of livelihood in the region, especially for marginalized rural communities. The impacts that climate change has on agriculture is an example of how the environment is connected to the economy.
The loss of fertile agricultural land due to rising temperatures will decrease the amount of food available both to sell and eat. This will cause a spike in unemployment that is already prevalent in rural households and is a leading cause of poverty. The consequently limited food production will also increase the cost of food, meaning that rural communities already experiencing poverty and food insecurity will have increasingly limited access. These are only some of the effects rural workers and farmers in Southeast Asia are facing. Climate change augments the risk of food security by both breaking down food systems in myriad ways, and impacting people's health on an individual level, leading to the loss of rural livelihoods and incomes.
How Healthcare Systems are Impacted
The impact of climate change on economies creates a cycle that leaves communities across Southeast Asia more and more vulnerable: climate change damages local and national economies which are in turn less resourced to defend themselves from further environmental effects of climate change.
Already, health systems in Southeast Asia are weak and underfunded, unable to provide care to everyone. For example, there are almost 3 times more hospital beds available in the U.S compared to Cambodia. (2.9 beds per 1,000 people vs .9 beds per 1,000). There are also gross disparities in healthcare professionals between Southeast Asia and the global north. For example, the differences in doctor and nurse to patient ratios in the Philippines and the U.S.
A cause of this disparity is the lack of funding to Cambodia’s and the Philippines' healthcare systems. In Cambodia, government and donor funding both only contribute 20% each to the health expenditure. This leaves 60% of funding of the health expenditure to out of pocket costs to be paid by the patient, a huge burden on poor and middle income households. This individualized burden is a striking example of how communities in Southeast Asia are made increasingly vulnerable by climate-related effects on economies.
As droughts, typhoons, floods and other extreme weather events continue to hit Southeast Asia, there will be increased rates of communicable disease, malnutrition, and injury which will require a strong, well-funded healthcare system. Lunas Global Health Network affirms every person's right to health, which includes access to healthcare but also safe and affordable housing, quality education, and economic security.
Bibliography
Prakash, Amit. “Boiling Point”. International Monetary Fund. 2018. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2018/09/southeast-asia-climate-change-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions-prakash. Accessed 6 December 2023.
Sundram, Pushpanathan, “Food Security in ASEAN: Progress, Challenges and Future”. Frontiers. 2023. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1260619/full. Accessed 6 December 2023.
Climate Change and Food Security: Risks and Responses. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2015. https://www.fao.org/3/i5188e/I5188E.pdf. Accessed 6 December 2023.
Hospital Beds (per 1,000 people). World Bank Open Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.BEDS.ZS. Accessed 6 December 2023.
Thin, Kouland. “Healthcare Financing Reforms in Cambodia: Challenges and Options for Achieving Universal Health Coverage under Financial Constraint”. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC. 2016. https://www.shareweb.ch/site/Health/aboutus/Documents/Health-Network-Newsletter/2017-March/Healthcare%20Financing%20Reforms%20in%20Cambodia.pdf. Accessed 6 December 2023.