KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, 2 July 2026 — Governments and public health institutions across South and Southeast Asia are beginning to transform their health systems as climate change reshapes some of the region's most pressing public health challenges.
Home to 2.6 billion people and one-third of the world’s population, these diverse sub-regions face a disproportionate share of the world’s climate-related health risks; rising temperature, air pollution, extreme weather events and changing patterns of infectious diseases increases
the pressure on existing healthcare systems, redefining what it means to protect population health in the 21st century.
While the challenges are increasingly shared across borders, their impacts are shaped by each country's unique geography, climate exposures, health systems and development priorities, underscoring the need for both regional cooperation and locally tailored solutions.
According to The Asian Collective for Health Systems (TACHS), a multi-actor platform for regional collaboration — the resources needed to prepare health systems continue to fall short, with an estimated 83–88% of financing for health adaptation needs in Asia remaining unmet, despite evidence and growing political commitment. To help advance the region's next phase of climate-health action, TACHS hosted the ‘Regional Workshop on Climate-Health Governance and Cooperation in South and Southeast Asia’ which took place in Kuala Lumpur, on 22 and 23 June.
ABOUT THE EVENT
The two day event, co-organised with the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU Global Health), Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (APO), Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Sunway University and the Regional Hub for Asia Climate Change and Health (REACH), Monash University Malaysia; engaged policymakers, researchers, development partners, co-organisers like and civil society representatives from across Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam — in exploring actionable approaches to strengthening climate-health capacities equitably.
Across 6 thematic sessions, governments and institutions demonstrated that while their pathways differ, the future of climate-health in Asia will depend on the same foundations: stronger and accountable institutions, integrated and well-governed data platforms, resilient and responsive healthcare services, sustainable financing, a climate-ready, well-remunerated workforce and communities empowered to shape the decisions that affect their health.
Governments are moving beyond identifying climate-health risks to embedding climate mitigation and risk adaptation into the core functions of public health systems.
Evidence of this transition is already visible across the region:
- Malaysia is strengthening climate-resilient healthcare facilities while advancing a national Heat Action Plan, developing healthcare carbon footprint assessment tools and expanding environmental monitoring through 65 continuous air quality monitoring stations.
- Bangladesh is scaling one of the region's most ambitious climate-health workforce programmes, having already trained more than 50,000 health workers as part of a broader initiative targeting 100,000 climate-ready frontline personnel.
- Thailand showcased how meteorological data and public health surveillance are being integrated to strengthen heat-health early warning systems.
- Vietnam highlighted its One Health approach, bringing together human, animal and environmental health to improve preparedness for climate-sensitive diseases.
- India, Indonesia and Singapore similarly shared experiences in strengthening multisectoral governance, digital health systems, climate-informed surveillance and cross-government coordination.
- Timor-Leste shared how climate-health promotion is integrated in its school health program.
Key priorities for Implementation
Despite their different contexts, participants recognised that many of the implementation challenges are similar. Building equitable climate-resilient health systems requires stronger governance and accountable structures that connect ministries of health with agencies responsible for climate, finance, disaster management, meteorology, agriculture and urban development.
It requires health information systems capable of integrating climate and environmental data with disease surveillance, enabling earlier detection of climate-related risks and more informed and timely decision-making. It also requires a decently employed workforce equipped with new competencies: from frontline community health workers and clinicians to policymakers and public health leaders who can respond to increasingly complex climate-health challenges.
Financing emerged as another critical priority.
While global climate-health investment increased from approximately US$1 billion to US$7.1 billion by 2022, 83–88% of financing for health adaptation needs in Asia remain unmet.
Participants also noted that while political commitment to climate-health is growing, implementation continues to be constrained by siloed funding mechanisms and limited access to climate finance. Strengthening health systems will require country-led inclusive domestic and international investments that move beyond short-term projects towards long-term institutional capacity, responsive healthcare infrastructure, workforce development, surveillance systems and locally led adaptation that is aligned with national Universal Health Coverage agenda.
Discussions also highlighted the need to better align domestic health budgets with climate finance availability, ensuring that adaptation investments deliver tangible health benefits for communities.
The role of communities
Across the workshop, speakers emphasised that resilient and transformative health systems cannot be developed solely through government action. Communities, civil society organisations, local governments, academia and professional networks all have an essential role in identifying risks, shaping policies, participating in decisions and supporting implementation.
The presenters noted that around 65% of the Sustainable Development Goals require implementation at the local or regional level, reinforcing the importance of engaging communities as long-term partners in developing climate health action.
Rather than presenting isolated national initiatives, the workshop demonstrated a region beginning to converge around a shared implementation agenda. For many participants, this marked an important shift in the regional conversation:
“Countries across South and Southeast Asia have made significant progress in recognising the health impacts of climate change. The challenge now is translating that understanding into stronger institutions, sustained investment and coordinated action. While each country will follow its own path, the workshop demonstrated that many of the implementation challenges and opportunities alike, are shared. Regional cooperation allows countries to learn from one another, adapt proven approaches and accelerate the transition from policy commitments to practical action that protects communities." - Said Dr. Neethi Rao, Research Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress.
The workshop identified several priorities for continued regional collaboration, including:
- Strengthening the evidence base for climate-health decision-making
- Improving access to inclusive climate finance
- Enhancing workforce competencies and remuneration
- Supporting locally led adaptation and expanding cross-country learning to accelerate implementation
- Gender sensitive and human-centred intersectoral climate action
The workshop concluded with a shared recognition that climate-health has entered a new phase: impact will be defined by how effectively countries strengthen governance, finance, resilient and human-centred health systems, develop a climate-ready workforce, integrate climate and health information systems, and empower communities to shape solutions.
