Applying Uganda’s Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP) at Facility Level

Uganda is experiencing the consequences of a changing climate. The country is facing more frequent and severe climate-related hazards, including droughts, floods, landslides, heavy rainfall, and rising temperatures. These events contaminate water sources, increase the risk of water- and vector-borne diseases, and disrupt the delivery of health services. Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MOH) identifies these and other climate-related risks as growing threats to the health system and called for stronger capacity to anticipate and respond to them. These changing conditions place additional pressure on health facilities, health workers, and the systems that support continuity of essential services.

In response to these risks, Uganda’s MOH developed the Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP) 2025–2030 to guide climate adaptation across the health sector. The H-NAP was informed by Uganda’s Climate Change and Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment and provides a framework for building a more responsive and resilient health system. Pathfinder International supported the Government of Uganda in developing the H-NAP, creating a foundation for a longer-term partnership focused not only on defining national priorities, but on translating them into action.

The EMPOWER programme provided an opportunity to apply that framework through routine health system implementation. Rather than treating climate adaptation as separate activities, EMPOWER used H-NAP priorities to examine how existing health system investments can contribute to more resilient services and what additional systems, capacities, and infrastructure are needed to sustain them.