African healthcare workers report climate pressures and gaps in preparedness
A scoping review brought together research on healthcare workers’ experiences across Africa, finding concerns about rising health demands alongside gaps in training, infrastructure and policy support.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Healthcare workers described increasing climate-related health challenges while feeling insufficiently prepared to respond. The review linked these concerns with limited training, strained facilities, resource shortages and heavy patient loads. It maps recurring experiences and system gaps across the included research, but it does not quantify a continent-wide effect or test which responses would work best.
Eligibility was limited to English-language research conducted in Africa. The abstract does not provide pooled estimates, country-specific comparisons or detailed quality assessments, limiting conclusions about the size and distribution of the reported problems.
Pressures on care and staff
The included studies described concerns about diseases linked to heat and disease-carrying organisms, respiratory conditions and malnutrition. Workers also reported stress and burnout in the context of heavy patient loads, connecting service pressures with staff experiences.
What preparedness involved
Reported gaps extended beyond individual knowledge to facility infrastructure, resources and climate-health policies. The authors called for training, surveillance and more resilient services, but the review did not evaluate the effectiveness of these proposed responses.
The original publication
Aware but unprepared: the impact of climate change on healthcare workers and service delivery in Africa - a scoping review.
Lusambili A, Nakstad B, Ochieng S et al.
Front Public Health · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41626387
- Record checked
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