As part of its Vote for Humanity campaign, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Australia is calling on all federal election candidates to take serious, science-backed action on climate change. This includes tackling the health impacts of climate change and providing humanitarian support for countries facing the worst effects.
MSF provides medical humanitarian care in more than 70 countries, and we’re seeing climate impacts increasing rapidly. There’s now a large body of evidence showing that there are significant health impacts from climate change.
A lot of the national climate conversation is stuck on energy bills and emissions trading schemes. But behind the policy talk, communities around the world are dealing with an increase in the severity and frequency of floods, infectious disease outbreaks, droughts and heatwaves. These events aren’t just disasters—they’re triggering health crises, especially in places where systems are already fragile due to poverty or conflict.
And while people are being affected everywhere—including right here in Australia after years of fires and flooding—some communities are hit much harder than others. In many places where MSF works, like South Sudan or Bangladesh, there’s no strong health system or infrastructure in place to respond when climate shocks hit.
The 2024 MSF–Lancet Countdown Brief describes how climate events aren’t happening one at a time. Instead, they’re piling on top of each other. A drought leads to hunger, which leads to malnutrition, then a flood arrives and cuts off the nearest health clinic. In South Sudan, flooding has destroyed crops and safe water access, and there are increasing concerns about severe cholera outbreaks. In Bangladesh, MSF teams are seeing heat-related illness rise, especially in Rohingya refugee camps.
Women and girls are often more exposed to health risks in climate disasters. That’s partly because women are often the ones collecting food and water, looking after others, and keeping families together through crises. And it can be more challenging during pregnancy—malaria, for example, can cause major complications.
When climate disasters occur, community stress increases, and if support systems and services break down, existing inequalities can worsen. This can drive up the risk of gender-based violence while also cutting off access to health services, including sexual and reproductive healthcare, when they are most needed.
That’s why MSF is calling for climate adaptation strategies that don’t just include women’s perspectives—they centre them. Women are already leading in a lot of these settings, whether it’s organising local health and community responses or pushing for better support. The policies need to catch up.
Despite all the evidence, most governments—including here in Australia—still aren’t investing enough in the health side of climate change. Cuts to international aid and the rise of climate misinformation are leaving vulnerable communities even more exposed to escalating risks. There’s a growing gap in climate adaptation funding, and the result is that health workers and systems on the frontline just don’t have the resources to cope. MSF teams are seeing avoidable suffering and deaths because of this.
Australia has a global responsibility. As the third-largest fossil fuel exporter in the world, we need to commit to a fast, fair transition and stop propping up coal and gas. It also means properly resourcing our own Australian National Health and Climate Strategy and providing practical, predictable funding to countries that need it most.
We already know what’s coming. The evidence is there. The question now is whether we act—fairly, urgently, and with compassion.
Jennifer Tierney is the Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières Australia.
Top photo source: Supplied
