People help each other across a flooded section of road in Port au Prince. Tropical storm Isaac passed across Haiti overnight with high winds and heavy rains, flooding low lying areas of the capital Port au Prince and flattening camps for displaced people from the January 2010 earthquake.
Photo Logan Abassi UN/MINUSTAH

 
When hurricane Patricia, one of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded, hit the coast of Mexico last week, the world expected the worse: devastation and a death toll similar to what was left behind by typhoon Haiyan, which shattered portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, killing over 6,300 people in 2013.

Crushing 165-mph winds knocked down trees and power lines, and the heavy rains led to severe flooding and mudslides. Despite the storm’s intensity, only a few deaths were recorded. The emergency response and a bit of luck—Patricia hit a sparsely populated and mountainous stretch of the coast—were key in minimizing the damage and suffering.

Critical health services were kept functional, allowing for safe deliveries and post-natal care in areas heavily affected by the storm. The fact that mothers and new-borns are alive and well says more about the impact of the storm in Mexico than anything else. A shift in the wind could have yielded the same catastrophic results seen in the past with Haiyan, when thousands of women’s, new-borns and children’s lives were at stake as health and support systems collapsed.

75% of 84 million people in need of assistance in 2014 were women and children.

Next time we might not be so lucky. We still lack detailed research about the health impact that can be directly or indirectly attributed to natural disasters, but a recent paper on health in humanitarian and other crises emphasizes that 75% of 84 million people in need of assistance in 2014 were women and children. The paper points out that 4% of disaster affected populations are pregnant, about 15% of whom will experience an obstetric complication. Without access to emergency obstetric services, many women and girls in such settings will die during childbirth or suffer long-term, debilitating health consequences. Their babies are at increased risk: 53% of preventable under-5 deaths take place in settings of conflict, displacement and natural disasters.
Climate change and the extreme events it engenders can cause substantial damage. For every person killed by a natural disaster, another 1,000 are estimated to be affected: physically, mentally or through loss of property or livelihood. Climate change can also isolate entire nations, left adrift in the aftermath of a tragedy or living out of fear and vulnerability. This is a very concrete threat for many island nations, including in the Pacific, which are increasingly susceptible to changing demographics and population density, as well as technological and socioeconomic hindrances common in high-risk zones. How will they cope?
Survival, health and early developmental prospects at one of the most vulnerable phases of life—from childbirth to adolescence—shows that resilient health systems can make a difference. According to a series on planetary health, building resilience requires planning and preparation based on assessments of risks; capacity to restore functions quickly and effectively; and adaptability to change after the disaster.

Opening of the High-level Event on Every Women, Every Child , Saving Lives, Protecting Futures
Remarks by the Secretary-General

Investments in health and well-being can also improve environmental prospects. If vulnerable populations including, women, children and adolescents, have access to quality health care, we can avoid preventable deaths and greatly improve their lives with more access to education and better economic opportunities, creating a virtuous cycle of sustainable development.

Healthier diets, reduced pollution, increased resilience, improved urban planning, more efficient land use and sustainable housing are some of the potential outcomes, all of which can help reduce our footprint and the vulnerability to changes in the environment. Moreover, we can have at least a 10-fold return on investments for communities and countries through better educational attainments, workforce participation and social contributions, which can then be re-invested in more sustainable practices.

The measure of our preparedness should not be left to chance but to our collective action.

The Sustainable Development Goals adopted a month ago in New York provide a historic opportunity to integrate health and sustainability, with a profound impact on the future of our planet. Along with the new goals, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, which offers a platform for such integration. The Global Strategy outlines the importance of working with health-enhancing sectors for better health outcomes, which can help tackle environmental threats and other crises, as well as reduce their impact on the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents, including mitigation measures, adaptation to climate change and humanitarian response.

Solutions to such threats lie within reach and should be based on the redefinition of prosperity to focus on quality of life and improved health for all, everywhere. This requires that societies address the drivers of these problems by promoting more sustainable and equitable patterns of consumption, managing population growth, and harnessing the power of technology for positive change. The measure of our preparedness should not be left to chance but to our collective action. As Mexico has proved, we can be stronger than the storm.