Extreme weather impacts on health services and communities in lower income countries : A thematic systematic review

Brainard, Julii, Sedekia, Yovitha, Jones, Natalia R., Matte, Michael, Sunday, Patrick, Watson-Jones, Deborah, Mapemba, Daniel Dennis, Kabakama, Severin A, Mulogo, Edgar Mugema, Ntaro, Moses, Thi Tran, Hanh, Hunter, Paul and Geere, Jo-Anne (2026) Extreme weather impacts on health services and communities in lower income countries : A thematic systematic review. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. ISSN 0035-9203 (In Press)

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Abstract

Background Most previous research about the dangers of extreme weather events was applicable to populations in high income countries. Data summarising harms related to extreme weather events in lower income settings are lacking. Methods A systematic review thematically summarised evidence about weather-event-linked harms and responses in low- and lower-middle income countries. Peer review and grey literature were systematically searched and selected. Data were extracted about harms, responses and outcomes relevant to six WHO Building Blocks of health care systems. Framework analysis was used to identify predominant themes related to harms, responses and the WHO Building Blocks. Results Included reports numbered 183. Flooding and high winds were the most common type of extreme weather event documented. The main community experience themes identified were displacement of populations and disruption. The main themes identified for health service delivery were: Vulnerability, Disruption and Resilience. Documented examples of resilience or recovery were far fewer for all six WHO healthcare system Building Blocks than descriptions of vulnerability and disruption. Conclusions Extreme weather events can be highly disruptive and harmful to health care systems and communities in LMIC settings that are often already highly vulnerable.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Data availability: The data matrices are are available as Supplementary file S1 at https://osf.io/c95xq/files.
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Public Health
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Epidemiology and Public Health
University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Rehabilitation
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 13 Jan 2026 16:30
Last Modified: 13 Jan 2026 16:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101599
DOI: issn:0035-9203

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