Health systems ‘can’t cope with climate change’, say researchers

Australia’s health systems need urgent reforms to deal with the impacts of climate change and to identify emerging diseases, a group of leading medical researchers has said.

In an editorial published by the Medical Journal of Australia, the researchers say the response capabilities of health systems are “too slow” and lack appropriate support technologies.

“After another Australian summer of record-breaking temperatures, bushfires, floods and widespread drought, it is clear that our health systems should be strengthened to cope with the challenges of climate change,” the editorial says.