Health and climate change: Country profile 2025 - Jamaica

Jamaica’s Health and Climate Change Country Profile 2025 outlines the country’s increasing efforts to understand, address, and prepare for the growing health impacts of climate change. As a small island developing state, Jamaica is highly vulnerable to sea level rise, tropical storms, flooding, droughts, and increasing temperatures–all of which pose serious risks to public health.

The profile brings together recent data and analysis to document how these hazards are affecting key health outcomes, including a sharp rise in heat-related mortality; more frequent dengue outbreaks; and growing pressures on food security, mental health, and healthcare infrastructure. It also highlights alarming trends in noncommunicable disease mortality, which climate change may further exacerbate through disruptions to nutrition, services, and livelihoods. 

In response, Jamaica has made important strides toward a more climate-resilient health system. The development of a national health and climate change plan is under way, supported by a recent vulnerability and adaptation assessment and increased training for health professionals. The country is also expanding the use of the SMART Hospitals Toolkit and integrating health into broader climate policy, including its nationally determined contribution. 

Yet, significant gaps remain. These include the need for stronger early warning systems, greater access to climate finance, and improved intersectoral coordination. This profile identifies clear priorities for future action – such as finalizing health adaptation plans, scaling up surveillance, and addressing inequities that leave certain populations more exposed to climate risks. As part of the Pan American Health Organization’s regional initiative on health and climate change, this profile provides a practical tool for policymakers, health leaders, and development partners, to enable them to reduce climate-related health risks, close preparedness gaps, and advance toward a healthier, more resilient future for Jamaica.