Associated organisationsHeidelberg University Hospital · Monash University · Monash University Malaysia · Taylor's University · University of HeidelbergEurope PMC affiliations are not treated as award recipients or mapped locations.
Funding£2.0M
PeriodAug 2023 — Jul 2027
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
In Malaysia, heat-related deaths are projected to rise by 295 percent by 2030, and this project will test whether simple changes—like teaching people about heat risks and painting roofs with reflective coatings—can keep vulnerable communities alive. This matters because Southeast Asia faces a double blow: rising temperatures from climate change, plus more intense heatwaves, rainstorms, and cyclones. Most adaptation research focuses on wealthy nations or urban centres, leaving semi-rural Malaysian communities without evidence-based solutions. The project fills that gap by testing two concrete interventions: a behavioural programme to improve heat health literacy, and a structural one—passive cooling technology on roofs—to lower indoor temperatures. If successful, the research could provide low-cost, scalable tools for governments and health agencies across Southeast Asia. Cool roofs, for instance, require no electricity and could be deployed rapidly in schools, clinics, and homes. The behavioural component could shift how entire communities respond to heat warnings, reducing hospital admissions during heatwaves. The project also equips an existing health surveillance system with home-based sensors, creating a long-term platform to track heat effects on health—infrastructure that will quietly inform policy for decades.
View original technical description
Increasing heat exposure will profoundly influence human health in the following decades, particularly in climate-vulnerable countries in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, heat-related mortality is projected to increase by 295 percent by 2030. More heatwaves will increase, as will severe rainstorms and tropical cyclones. To strengthen heat adaptation in Southeast Asia, we will evaluate simple behavioral and structural interventions that have the potential to protect vulnerable communities from the health effects of extreme heat. Addressing climate change and health requires fundamental behavioral changes in individuals and communities to prevent them from the adverse health effects of heat. We will introduce interventions that will strengthen heat health literacy and fluency for individuals and communities (behavioral intervention). Climate change adaptation is critical for vulnerable groups to cope with rising average temperatures and severe heat waves. As a structural intervention, we will test a passive cooling (cool roof) technology to decrease indoor exposure to extreme heat. The South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO) health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) serves as a solid foundation to conduct these interventions, equipping it with individual, home-based, and community-based sensors to enable cutting-edge climate change and health research, focusing on heat effects on health.
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