Critical Assessment of National and Sub-National Climate Change and Health Action Plans of India

Critical Assessment of National and Sub-National Climate Change and Health Action Plans of India | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Critical Assessment of National and Sub-National Climate Change and Health Action Plans of India Anwesha Maharana, Shreyas Patil, Aatmika Nair, Aaradhana Vaghela, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9318965/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Anthropogenic climate change poses escalating threats to human health, with India ranked 6th in the global climate risk index. As climate‑sensitive illnesses, extreme heat, air pollution, and climate‑induced displacement intensify, evidence‑driven adaptation becomes essential. This study critically reviews India’s National and State Action Plans for Climate Change and Human Health (NAPCCHH and 32 SAPCCHH as of November 2023) to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities to improve health-centred climate action. We developed a protocol based on a refined version of the WHO Health National Adaptation Plan quality criteria framework and conducted a quantitative assessment of the plans. While the plans reflect strong political commitments and initial cross-sectoral structures, significant gaps persist in vulnerability assessments, surveillance capacity, resource mobilisation, and monitoring frameworks. Findings highlight the need for iterative, participatory, and data-driven processes that integrate evolving climate-health evidence and better engage civil society and vulnerable communities to advance effective localised adaptation in India. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Climate change/Climate-change impacts/Environmental health Social science/Social policy Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. Conflicts of interest statement: Siddhesh Zadey serves as the co-founding director of the Association for Socially Applicable Research (ASAR), Chair of the Asia Working Group of the G4 Alliance, Fellow at the Lancet Commission on a Citizen-Centred Health System for India, and Drafting Committee Member for the Maharashtra State Mental Health Policy. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest. No other authors have any conflict of interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9318965","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":618718312,"identity":"85783f1c-69cf-492d-9dc4-6a80d62a3225","order_by":0,"name":"Anwesha Maharana","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4269-056X","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anwesha","middleName":"","lastName":"Maharana","suffix":""},{"id":618718313,"identity":"2d935828-d174-40a5-9203-0452294779d3","order_by":1,"name":"Shreyas Patil","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shreyas","middleName":"","lastName":"Patil","suffix":""},{"id":618718314,"identity":"8be3f8de-8230-49ee-a59d-5abdbf5bc0cd","order_by":2,"name":"Aatmika Nair","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aatmika","middleName":"","lastName":"Nair","suffix":""},{"id":618718315,"identity":"4fd7e096-ec35-4bc3-9adb-0ef079bdb6f2","order_by":3,"name":"Aaradhana Vaghela","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aaradhana","middleName":"","lastName":"Vaghela","suffix":""},{"id":618718316,"identity":"3c9f5805-f0f3-4e6d-8ce6-fbfa8fc225a8","order_by":4,"name":"Anuja Jani","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anuja","middleName":"","lastName":"Jani","suffix":""},{"id":618718317,"identity":"fd006c64-ec1a-484b-b32e-555ff7ced0e1","order_by":5,"name":"Pubali Biswas","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pubali","middleName":"","lastName":"Biswas","suffix":""},{"id":618718318,"identity":"fb6b33da-9221-4e73-9453-07dbaee5be70","order_by":6,"name":"Manraj Singh Sra","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Manraj","middleName":"Singh","lastName":"Sra","suffix":""},{"id":618718319,"identity":"4340e9bf-3ded-40c3-9fb0-8ca209e11024","order_by":7,"name":"Siddhesh Zadey","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1176-1529","institution":"Association for Socially Applicable Research (ASAR)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Siddhesh","middleName":"","lastName":"Zadey","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-04 08:40:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9318965/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9318965/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106728267,"identity":"97dfc3bb-8d0a-4b55-9754-5877c088ab42","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-12 18:42:19","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":588490,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CriticalAssessmentofNationalandSubNationalClimateChangeandHealthActionPlansofIndia.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9318965/v1_covered_b15bad9b-fcf6-44f6-b8da-742409cd2e05.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cb\u003eYes\u003c/b\u003e there is potential Competing Interest.\nConflicts of interest statement: Siddhesh Zadey serves as the co-founding director of the Association for Socially Applicable Research (ASAR), Chair of the Asia Working Group of the G4 Alliance, Fellow at the Lancet Commission on a Citizen-Centred Health System for India, and Drafting Committee Member for the Maharashtra State Mental Health Policy. 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