Heatwave Plan

I attended the annual Heatwave Plan Seminar conducted by the Extreme Events and Health Protection team of Public Health England this Monday. This seminar reviewed the 2015 Heatwave plan for England. Around sixty professionals attended from a wide sector of the health and local authority community and these were supported by academics and government officials. The findings from this seminar will be added to the evolution of the Heatwave Plan for England that will be published in May 2016 by Public Health England and its wider partners including the National Health Service for England and Local Authorities.

As Hong Kong, being in the subtropical climate, is also very prone to heatwaves in the summers, it was interesting to see what England does as a nation to reduce excess mortality and adverse health effects associated with heat and I found it an opportunity for learning on how science can inform policy and practice and its evaluation takes place with Public Health England. I had the opportunity to be a rapporteur for two sessions which allowed me to participate in the process more fully.

During the summer of 2003 a heatwave in August caused a high excess mortality across the whole of Europe. The Heatwave Plan in England started in 2004 as a response to this event. It has since been updated annually to reflect issues identified in the previous year, accommodating new relevant scientific evidence and renewing actions for the year. This has been crucial in in reducing heatwave impact despite England being in a relatively cool climate.

Unlike Hong Kong, England is not as hot and humid. However, with the temperatures rising each summer, overheating is a looming problem in England, coupled with the inadequate ventilation in buildings, especially in single aspect dwellings and high rise blocks on urban heat islands. One of the main recommendations in England is for improved building standards, with designs for passive cooling systems and green areas in its surrounding environments. The use of air-conditioning is also not as common as in Hong Kong as it is not a long term sustainable solution to the heat, due to the amount of power it consumes and related issues of fuel poverty. One of Hong Kong’s main issues is its high reliance on air-conditioning indoors. On top of that, in Hong Kong, like England, the population most vulnerable to heatwaves – the elderly – often do not see themselves as susceptible to heat-related illnesses and often are not willing to turn on their air-conditioners in order to cut costs. Hence there may be a need for a comprehensive heatwave plan in Hong Kong.

The Heatwave Plan Seminar identified as one of the challenges that a lot of useful data and recommendations does not appear to be reaching those who are actually affected by the heat, such as elderly living in social isolation, and may stop at higher levels such as managers of care homes rather than getting used by their staff and residents. Overheating in care homes has been identified as a problem, so a need to raise awareness is important and even to encourage more effective sharing of the leaflet designed for guidance to case home managers and their staff. Therefore the question of how to effectively deliver the message and have greater involvement of the community and the private sector (such as the housing sector) to mainstream the awareness of keeping cool during the summer remains a priority.