Floods, Health and Climate Change: A Strategic Review

Flooding is one of the most widespread of climatic hazards and poses multiple risks to human
health, yet there has been little systematic research work on health outcomes and the means by
which vulnerable populations and health systems respond to those risks. Given the prospect that
flood hazards may increase as a result of climate change, it is timely now to make a strategic
assessment of the existing knowledge base on health and flood risk.

The objectives of this report are:
• To present findings from a wide-ranging review of global literature on health impacts,
adaptation processes and policies relating to flood risk.
• To make a critical assessment of the existing knowledge base and identify key opportunities
and challenges for intervention and research.
• To assess the implications of climate change and future flood risk for health impacts,
adaptation processes and policies.

Following preliminary discussion of global flood risk issues (chapter 2), the main sections of the
report comprise an epidemiological review of the evidence base for health outcomes of flooding
(chapter 3) and a review of literature analysing mechanisms of response to health risks from
floods (chapter 4). Though the scope of the report is global, the material discussed in these
sections is fairly narrow in thematic focus: the intention has been to maximise the added value of
the work by concentrating as closely as possible on issues connected with health and flooding.
The final section (chapter 5) then discusses the key findings in the wider contexts of social
differentiation, development, hazard management, climate change and adaptation.