TY - JOUR
T1 - The health sector’s role in governance of climate change adaptation in Myanmar
AU - Gilfillan, Daniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2019/8/9
Y1 - 2019/8/9
N2 - Myanmar is a least developed country transitioning to democracy but has many holdovers from its recent military-controlled past. At the same time, extreme climate-related weather events are undermining the health ministry’s capacity to support people to live long and full lives. This paper describes existing climate change-related challenges confronting Myanmar’s health sector and explores opportunities for the health ministry to influence other health determining sectors, including disaster risk reduction. It was a qualitative study, drawing on semi-structured interviews with government officials from health, social welfare, environment and rural development, as well as with personnel from international and national NGOs and organizations. Interview data was triangulated with policy documents and on-the-ground research. The research found that Myanmar’s governance structures are changing rapidly and that responding to disasters is an urgent priority that has over-shadowed planned long-term adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, poor coordination across scales and sectors inhibits effective adaptation and disaster risk reduction. In this context, the health ministry, already involved in disaster response, is well placed to draw on its vertical and horizontal penetration to seize an existing window of opportunity and improve climate change responses and disaster risk reduction by taking on a coordinating role.
AB - Myanmar is a least developed country transitioning to democracy but has many holdovers from its recent military-controlled past. At the same time, extreme climate-related weather events are undermining the health ministry’s capacity to support people to live long and full lives. This paper describes existing climate change-related challenges confronting Myanmar’s health sector and explores opportunities for the health ministry to influence other health determining sectors, including disaster risk reduction. It was a qualitative study, drawing on semi-structured interviews with government officials from health, social welfare, environment and rural development, as well as with personnel from international and national NGOs and organizations. Interview data was triangulated with policy documents and on-the-ground research. The research found that Myanmar’s governance structures are changing rapidly and that responding to disasters is an urgent priority that has over-shadowed planned long-term adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, poor coordination across scales and sectors inhibits effective adaptation and disaster risk reduction. In this context, the health ministry, already involved in disaster response, is well placed to draw on its vertical and horizontal penetration to seize an existing window of opportunity and improve climate change responses and disaster risk reduction by taking on a coordinating role.
KW - Myanmar
KW - adaptatio governance
KW - climate change
KW - coordination
KW - health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052117916&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17565529.2018.1510364
DO - 10.1080/17565529.2018.1510364
M3 - Article
SN - 1756-5529
VL - 11
SP - 574
EP - 584
JO - Climate and Development
JF - Climate and Development
IS - 7
ER -