Submission ID 131995
| Issue/Objective | Climate change is a critical upstream determinant of health equity, disproportionately impacting women living in poverty through intersecting structural and gender inequities. Extreme weather events (EWEs) increase risks to women's mental, physical, and reproductive health, while broader social and economic conditions shape vulnerability and adaptive capacity. This study synthesizes global evidence on how climate-related health risks among women in poverty are influenced by structural factors, including poverty, gender inequality, and limited access to resources and services. |
|---|---|
| Methodology/Approach | We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines, searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus (July 2024; updated May 2025). Of over 21,000 records screened, 86 peer-reviewed studies examining climate-related health impacts among women in poverty were included. Data were extracted using standardized tools and synthesized narratively due to heterogeneity. The analysis incorporated upstream determinants, including health policy, and structural inequities. |
| Results | EWEs were associated with adverse mental health outcomes, increased gender-based violence, poor maternal and reproductive health, infectious disease risks, food insecurity, and elevated mortality among women in poverty. These findings demonstrate that impacts are not driven by climate exposure alone, but by structural inequities - including under-resourced health systems, economic marginalization, and exclusion from decision-making - that shape risk and limit adaptive capacity. Governance gaps, such as weak climate adaptation policies and lack of gender-responsive planning, further exacerbated vulnerability. Together, these findings highlight climate change as an upstream determinant of health inequity, driven by systemic failures in governance, and policy. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | These findings show that climate-related health inequities among women in poverty are driven by structural factors, including economic dependency, unpaid caregiving burdens, limited access to resources, and exclusion from decision-making. Extreme weather events intensify these inequities by disrupting livelihoods, increasing food insecurity, and heightening risks of gender-based violence, particularly in displacement settings. These results highlight the need for policies that move beyond gender-neutral approaches to address root drivers of vulnerability. Strengthening social protection systems, ensuring access to integrated health services, and increasing women's participation in leadership and decision-making are critical for effective and equitable responses. Scaling intersectional and gender-responsive frameworks across climate and health systems can support more coordinated and sustainable action. |
| Presenters and Affiliations | Mariam Farooq CAMH/University of Toronto Robert Meade Harvard University Amber Fletcher University of Regina Mariam Farooq Camh Mariya Bezgrebelna CAMH Maya Zaidan CAMH Leanne Lacap CAMH Huy Nguyen CAMH Nick Kerman UHN Jolly Noor CAMH Erin Flanagan CAMH Gyeongwon Kwak CAMH Yukta Sharma CAMH Kimberly Fung CAMH Siqi Xue CAMH Glen Kenny University of Ottawa Daisy Singla University of Toronto Maya Gislason Simon Fraser University Sean Kidd CAMH |
