City Health System Preparedness for Changes in Dengue Fever Reasonably Attributable to Climate Change: An Exploratory Case Study of Bangkok

Health system preparedness for changes in dengue fever attributable to climate change was explored in this collaborative study by Imperial College London and WHO Kobe Centre. A new toolkit was developed and an exploratory case study in Bangkok, Thailand was undertaken in 2008. The study found out that one, there is a clear lack of research in this area as most research has been looking upstream at impacts and not on immediate response and preparedness for effective response; and two, there is a clear need to develop and/or scale up national-capital city efforts to assess and address the implications of climate change for health systems. It recommends further case studies to validate the toolkit and generate guidelines on how to develop effective response plans.