Better Climate, Better Health: Using Precision Public Health Tools to Tackle Climate-Sensitive Diseases in China

The report examines the intersection of climate change and public health in China, highlighting the rising burden of climate-sensitive diseases such as dengue, malaria, and heat-related illnesses. It assesses China's governance frameworks, noting that while national strategies like the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035 incorporate health, a stand-alone national health adaptation plan is missing. The document specifically explores the application of precision public health (PPH)—using big data and AI for targeted interventions—finding that while there is significant potential and some operational tools, PPH in China is still in its infancy and lacks a coordinated national scale-up strategy.

• China's average surface temperature increased by 0.16°C per decade from 1901 to 2022, a rate higher than the global average, and the country is the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, contributing a third of global GHGs as of 2022.
• Climate change is driving a northwards shift in the endemic areas and accelerating the spread of vector-borne diseases in China, with dengue vectorial potential increasing significantly in 19 provinces between 2004 and 2020.
• Temperature variability is strongly linked to non-communicable diseases in China; for example, 17.1% of over 330,000 cardiovascular deaths in 15 megacities between 2007 and 2013 were attributed to ambient temperature.
• China's climate-health governance is characterized by a lack of a stand-alone national adaptation plan for health and a fragmented accountability mechanism where duties are scattered across different ministries.
• The National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035 aims for China to establish a nationwide climate impact and risk assessment system and improved early-warning capabilities by 2035.
• Precision public health (PPH) is in its infancy in China; although the term does not appear in official policy documents, the concept of 'precision prevention and control' gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The report identified only nine eligible PPH tools in China, most of which are focused on single geographical regions, indicating a lack of scale-up strategies and substantiated replicability.
• PPH tools in China primarily utilize data on disease vectors, meteorological factors, air quality, and geography, with some integrating AI and social media data for infectious disease surveillance.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Better Climate, Better Health: Using Precision Public Health Tools to Tackle Climate-Sensitive Diseases in China. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Better_Climate_Better_Health_September_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Better Climate, Better Health: Using Precision Public Health Tools to Tackle Climate-Sensitive Diseases in China. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Better_Climate_Better_Health_September_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Better Climate, Better Health: Using Precision Public Health Tools to Tackle Climate-Sensitive Diseases in China |date=September 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Better_Climate_Better_Health_September_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023better, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Better Climate, Better Health: Using Precision Public Health Tools to Tackle Climate-Sensitive Diseases in China}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Better_Climate_Better_Health_September_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }