Text by Cherry Madrideo
Photos by Angelou Mendoza

The Institute of Child Health and Human Development (ICHHD)—National Institutes of Health (NIH) marked its 26th year with an anniversary symposium titled “Health in a Changing Climate: Harnessing Information for Better Resilience” on April 25, 2025, at the 6th Floor, Henry Sy Sr. Building.

Climate Information Services (CIS) are climate data and information that are designed and packaged to assist communities and organizations in making informed decisions about disaster management and climate change adaptations. 

Acknowledging CIS’s critical role in safeguarding public health by enhancing our understanding of how climate and weather influence health outcomes, the ICHHD, led by Director Maria Esterlita Villanueva Uy, collaborated with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the Mariano Marcos State University College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry-Molecular Biology, the Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to conduct studies using climate information and its effect on health outcomes. This symposium aims to highlight the results from these projects and how climate information can inform public health in the Philippines. 

NIH Executive Director Eva Maria Cutiongco-De La Paz, in her welcome message, commended ICHHD for its response after it identified a lack of research on climate change and health by initiating a partnership with GIZ in 2023 to study climate change impacts on health, expanding existing work on diseases like dengue.

Vice Chancellor for Research Leslie Michelle Dalmacio, on behalf of Chancellor Michael Tee, stressed that climate change is no longer a distant threat but an everyday reality that impacts the health, safety, and well-being of people worldwide, particularly the most vulnerable, making CIS play a crucial role. She lauded the ICHHD for leading a vital effort in collaboration: “This multisectoral partnership is a shining example of how scientific innovation, effective governance, and community engagement can unite to confront one of the defining challenges of our era.” 

Meanwhile, Engr. Bonifacio Magtibay, technical officer of the Environmental and Occupational Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) Philippines, served as the “Fourth Anna Lena Lopez Memorial” lecturer and keynote speaker. Engr. Magtibay identified the urgent health impacts of climate change, especially on vulnerable populations—children, women, marginalized communities, and those with existing health issues. He recognized the Philippine climate-health plans, such as the Health and Climate Change Roadmap (2025–2040) and the National Adaptation Plan (2023–2050), that serve as national blueprints for climate resilience. He outlined the WHO-recommended action plans: 1. Strengthen climate and health information systems, 2. Develop integrated climate and health data systems with early warning capabilities to protect vulnerable populations, 3. Enhance health systems resilience, 4. Adapt health systems to climate change through sustainable practices and climate-sensitive health interventions, 5. Sustain support to vulnerable populations, and 6. Prioritize climate and health actions for at-risk groups and marginalized communities.

CHED Commissioner Shirley Agrupis stressed the importance of research-based action and collaboration to combat climate change impacts such as unpredictable weather, intensified typhoons, shifting disease patterns, and health threats like malnutrition, malaria, and heat stress, which are already disrupting communities and harming vulnerable groups. She encouraged young researchers to lead and assert their ideas and innovations to shape a resilient and community-centered response to climate change and health risks. 

Nicole Kranz, principal coordinator of South-South Collaboration on Climate Information and Services (SSCIS) and cluster coordinator of the Climate Action Cluster of GIZ, emphasized that climate protection safeguards human health, and she urged continued efforts in actively limiting climate change progression through greenhouse gas mitigation. She promoted the use of climate data in policy making, research, and adaptation to tackle climate-sensitive diseases such as cholera, dengue, malaria, and malnutrition.

Subject matter experts and seasoned resource persons addressed issues on health and climate change. For systemic responses for climate-health challenges that focused on plans, governance, and partnerships, Dr. Ronald Law, director of the Health and Climate Change Office at the Department of Health (DOH), discussed “The Roadmap to Better Health in a Changing Climate.” Atty. Romell Antonio Cuenca, assistant secretary of the deputy executive director at the CCC, explained “The Health Agenda in the National Climate Change Action Plan.” Chief Adviser Jimmy Loro of the SSCIS, GIZ, presented “The SSCIS Project.” Dir. Hilton Lam of the Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies shared “Untangling the Wicked Problem of Climate Change: Mapping Policy Strategies with Causal Loop Diagrams.” Vice President for Research, Development, and Innovation Nathaniel Alibuyog of the Mariano Marcos State University took on “Synergy for Sustainability: How Partnerships with State Universities and Colleges Can Transform Climate-Health Research in the Philippines.”

For research, data, and health impacts such as disease patterns, Deputy Administrator for Research and Development Marcelino Villafuerte II of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-PAGASA took on “Climate Information Services for Better Health Outcomes.” Dr. Michelle Ylade, Dr. Kristal An Agrupis, and Dir. Maria Esterlita Villanueva Uy of the ICHHD elaborated on “Tracking Progress and Showcasing Outputs: The SSCIS-UP Manila Climate and Health Study,” “Current Gaps in Climate Change and Health Research,” and “Hot Spots: The Impact of Rising Surface Temperatures on Hospital Admissions,” respectively. Prof. Frank Heralde of the College of Medicine expounded on “MODIFY Dengue: The Role of Climate Variables in Vector Dynamics.” 

For the culminating activity, the participants were grouped for the workshop on “Climate Information Service (CIS) in Health Policy Simulation” and the workshop plenary presentation. #

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