Earth Intelligence and health care infrastructure: strengthening global health security
Climate change and environmental degradation are putting new pressure on hospitals, clinics, and emergency services.
Between 1990 and 2020, the risk of extreme weather affecting hospital infrastructure globally increased by more than 40%. At the same time, rising temperatures, longer heatwaves, biodiversity loss, and ageing populations are increasing demand for care.
Earth intelligence can help health planners understand these risks and design systems that stay functional during shocks.
The GEO Health Community of Practice’s Health Care Infrastructure Work Group is developing resources to help decision-makers assess the vulnerability of health facilities to environmental stressors.
The One Health approach
Health infrastructure planning is stronger when it recognises the links between human, animal, and environmental health. A One Health lens helps governments anticipate how climate change, land-use change, mobility, and zoonotic risks will translate into service demand.
By forecasting health risks and their potential impacts, decision-makers can intervene earlier, scale capacity, and avoid knock-on effects on public health and ecosystems.
The Health Care Infrastructure Work Group promotes collaboration across health services, emergency response, urban and environmental management, agriculture, and supply chains so that infrastructure planning reflects shared risks.
Using satellite data to fill gaps in understanding
Earth observations and in situ sensors can show where infrastructure is exposed and where environmental conditions are changing fastest.
Satellite imagery and derived products can also track temperature, land use, flood risk, air quality, and vector habitats, all of which affect health demand and facility safety.
When data are combined with AI and predictive analytics, authorities can identify facilities at higher risk, plan surge capacity, protect vulnerable populations, and target resilience investments.
Making data accessible
The Health Care Infrastructure Work Group supports both immediate actions – such as warning populations about poor air quality – and longer-term strategies to make facilities climate-resilient.
For Earth observation data to be used routinely in health infrastructure planning, it needs to be timely, usable, and linked to health outcomes.
The Health Care Infrastructure Work Group is testing approaches in the United States, Europe, and Africa to demonstrate how environmental information can inform public health alerts and facility preparedness.
Funding remains a key barrier, especially for early-stage and scaling efforts that require new technology. The group therefore promotes community engagement and the use of diverse financing options.
To learn more or get involved, read the white paper or get in touch.