Knowledge, attitudes and practices in preventing the impact of climate change on the health among inhabitants in a Coastal Plain of Central Vietnam in 2019

Abstract

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to global health in the 21st century. To assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices in preventing the impacts of climate change on the health among inhabitants in coastal plains, a cross-sectional descriptive study was performed with 410 inhabitants in Quang Phuoc commune, Quang Dien district, Thua Thien Hue in 2019. The results showed that the percentage of people who have general knowledge about climate change was 38.8% and only 12.0% of people had full knowledge about the impacts of climate change on health. 42.4% of people showed their interest in the prevention of health issues related to climate change and 12.4% of subjects had good practices in the prevention of health problems related to extreme weather events. The proportion of people who are fully aware of climate change, its impacts on health as well as take action to adapt and prevent the impacts of climate change on health is still limited, thus, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and mobilize people to improve their knowledge, attitude, and actions about this issues.