ABSTRACT
Healthcare is at a crossroads. Delivery systems are under enormous pressure just coping with normal workloads and usual care. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in more challenges to health systems which, in a very real sense, was a dress rehearsal for the accelerating pressure that climate change will pose on every part of every health system. We have therefore proposed an advancement in Learning Health Systems (LHS), which we call LHS 2.0. In this model, health systems will be enabled to harness data, engage better in partnerships between clinicians and patients, mobilise incentives for better care, embrace a continuous learning culture and put in place enabling structures and policies as envisaged in LHS 1.0. But LHSs 2.0 will do this, and also be prepared for future exigencies. LHS 2.0 focuses on the front lines of care, particularly emergency departments and primary care providers, such that they are upskilled, provided with timely data, enabled with greater research capacity, and positioned to deal with climate change-induced additional care needs. We prosecute the argument for LHS 2.0 as a key vehicle in making the progress we need to make in tackling climate change in healthcare, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in this chapter.
