EuroHEAT. Improving public health responses to extreme weather/heat-waves

Summary for policy-makers.

EuroHEAT, a project coordinated by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and co-funded by the European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO), has quantified the health effects of heat in cities in the WHO European Region and has identified options for improving the preparedness of health systems and their responses to protect health. The project contributed to the implementation of the commitments specified in the Declaration of the Fourth WHO Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health (identifying, mitigating, preventing and adapting to the health impacts of climate change and taking action to reduce the current burden of disease due to extreme weather and climate events) and in the EC environment and health action plan. The EuroHEAT team was composed of representatives from 7 European scientific institutions and was supported by an advisory committee of 19 experts from 14 countries and the EC.