Front Public Health. 2026 Jul 20;14:1789137. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1789137. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
In Indonesia and Malaysia, women face disproportionate climate-related health impacts due to intersecting social, economic and environmental inequalities. Climate and health policies overlook these gendered vulnerabilities, highlighting the need for approaches that center women's lived experiences and priorities. This qualitative study identifies and ranks women's priority climate-related health risks. We conducted participatory focus group discussions with 35 women recruited via snowball and purposive sampling in Indonesia (n = 21) and Malaysia (n = 14), incorporating a structured ranking exercise informed by the Centres for Disease Control climate-health framework. A hand-coded thematic analysis approach was used. For Indonesian women, air pollution (e.g., respiratory issues) ranked highest, while for Malaysian women, extreme heat (e.g., leading to dizziness) ranked highest. Participants explained their reasons for contextualizing their rankings, such as living in urban or rural areas in Indonesia and Malaysia. These findings provide critical, nuanced insights into the urgent need to better consider gendered dimensions and to develop more gender-responsive climate policies that center the lived experiences of women regarding the climate-health nexus in Southeast Asia. As climate impacts intensify, ensuring that women's voices inform both national and international policy frameworks is not only a matter of equity but a prerequisite for effective and sustainable public health responses.
PMID:42549383 | PMC:PMC13431170 | DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1789137