This Tuesday (June 30, 2026) a series of measures to prepare the (Unified Health System) for climate change and health. The actions are part of AdaptaSUS (National Plan for Adapting the Health Sector to Climate Change), presented at .
The plan proposes investments of R$9.8 billion to expand public health’s preparedness and response capacity to extreme weather events. In total, it brings together 27 goals and 93 actions scheduled to be implemented by 2035.
The objectives include anticipating climate risks and issuing warnings, preparing more resilient health services, protecting the population — especially in more vulnerable areas — and strengthening the SUS’s capacity to respond and rebuild territories affected by disasters.
The program is structured on 5 fronts:
- coordination (with coordination between the Union, States, municipalities and Civil Defense);
- strengthening the health system’s response capacity;
- communication;
- surveillance and alerts;
- reinforcement of inputs, such as medicines, vaccines, drinking water and equipment.
The plan also aims to implement 8 Integrated Health and Climate Centers in the 5 regions of the country. The units will be installed in Belo Horizonte, Belém, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Santarém and Bahia. According to the ministry, the first center will be opened on Wednesday (July 1, 2026), in Bahia.
Each unit will have teams made up of epidemiologists, meteorologists, geographers specialized in spatial analysis and data scientists to monitor risks in real time, support the issuance of early warnings and guide managers, health professionals and the population.
EXCESSIVE HEAT
Another tool announced was the National Panel for Monitoring and Forecasting Excessive Heat and Health Equity. The platform will provide daily forecasts for the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities up to 5 days in advance and will cross meteorological data with indicators of socioeconomic vulnerability to identify the populations most exposed to the risks of extreme heat.
The actions also include the expansion of the SUS National Force to 8 bases distributed across the 5 regions of the country, with implementation scheduled for 2027. The units will be located in Porto Alegre (RS), Salvador (BA), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), in addition to other bases in the North, Northeast and Central-West regions. According to the Ministry of Health, it will be the first structure of its kind in South America.
Rapid Response Teams will be able to reach any emergency within 12 hours and initiate actions compatible with the complexity of the disaster within 72 hours. To do this, they will have vehicles, radios, satellite communication, drones and reconnaissance equipment to operate in difficult-to-access areas.
The ministry also works with a specific protocol to protect elderly people during periods of extreme heat. The guidelines include:
- offer water even if you are not thirsty;
- avoid exposure to the sun at the hottest times;
- keep environments ventilated;
- check the correct use of continuous medications;
- Use saline solution in cases of dry eyes or nostrils.
In a press conference, the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, stated that the ministry considers the climate crisis “first and foremost, a public health crisis”. According to him, the decentralization of the SUS National Force bases will increase the network’s rapid response capacity by 20 times within 12 hours.
Padilha also highlighted a recent study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, according to which around 120,000 deaths were associated with the increase in average temperatures in Brazil over the last 20 years.
“Mitigation is very important. The effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is necessary, but the adaptation of health systems is urgent”he stated.
This text was originally published by Agência Brasil, on June 30, 2026. The content is free for republication, citing the source, it was adapted to the standard of Poder360 and received additional information collected by this digital newspaper.
