Too Hot to Handle: The Urgent Need for an EU-wide Heat-health Strategy

Abstract
Context
Heatwaves are increasingly frequent and severe due to climate change, posing multidimensional threats to human, animal, and environmental health. In Europe, extreme heat has caused health crises, economic strain, and ecosystem damage, with the summer of 2023 illustrating the urgent need for coordinated responses. The current challenges include rising mortality, overwhelmed healthcare systems, strained infrastructure, and agricultural losses, highlighting the necessity for immediate and comprehensive policy interventions.

Identified Gaps
Our analysis revealed three critical gaps in current policies addressing heatwaves within the EU: 1. Lack of integration of the One Health approach: Policies fail to address the interconnected impacts on human, animal, and environmental health. 2. Insufficient multilevel governance: Fragmented responses and the absence of standardised Heat Health Action Plans (HHAPs) limit effective mitigation. 3. Limited cross-border collaboration: Heatwaves’ transboundary nature demands better proactive planning and coordinated mechanisms across EU Member States. 

Policy Options and Recommendations
This advocacy brief calls for the development and implementation of a comprehensive EU-wide Heat-Health Strategy, designed to address the increasing threat of heatwaves through a unified, collaborative and proactive approach. Key recommendations are 1. Encourage the adoption of national HHAPs grounded in One Health principles, 2. Strengthen early warning systems and health risk mapping, 3. Foster cross-border collaborations for better resource-sharing and adaptation strategies.

Keywords: Heatwaves, Heat-health, Heat-health Action Plans, European Union, One health, climate change.