Current challenges of climate change or global warming are issues that all countries worldwide prioritized and urgently addressed. Many countries have established policies to mitigate this problem. As is the case in other sectors, health systems contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming. This issue has been prioritized by the Thai Ministry of Public Health, which has established mitigation policy for hospitals across the country. However, a study on greenhouse gas emissions from Thai hospitals showed that their percentage of emissions are higher than the health sectors in their countries.
This study therefore aimed to examine the hospital directors’ awareness of climate change issues and the challenges they faced in resolving those issues in the 12 health regions in Thailand, as these factors influence policy implementation in the hospital context. A survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire on topics related to current policies and issues regarding climate change. A total of 55 hospital executives from community, general, and regional hospitals across 12 health regions participated.
The study found that hospital executives’ concern on climate change was high, with an average score of 2.8 out of 3; additionally, they believed that current solutions were incommensurable to the present situation, with an average score of 2.05 out of 3; not different by management positions and by hospital levels. Regarding potential solutions, 87.3% of respondents believed that measures related to electricity use, such as switching to energy-efficient appliances and installation of solar power systems, should be prioritized.
The study concluded that policymakers should first focus on policies related to electricity consumption in hospitals. Furthermore, policies concerning telemedicine should also be prioritized. There were still certain challenges in reaching effectiveness of these policies widely.
