Climate and Health policies in Argentina: obstacles and opportunities from stakeholders’ perspectives

In Argentina, climate change poses significant challenges for public health, affecting heatwave incidence, vector-borne disease distribution, and healthcare infrastructure resilience. Despite being the first Latin American country to explicitly integrate health into its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and establishing a National Strategy for Climate and Health, the extent to which these frameworks translate into tangible action remains unclear.

A total of 31 key informants from national and subnational governments, research institutes, healthcare facilities, and international organizations were interviewed using a semi-structured format. Data were analyzed using an operational framework for building climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, which was refined inductively to identify core themes and categories based on interviews and a workshop with key stakeholders.

Findings reveal notable progress in governance, including the creation of intersectoral spaces and policy instruments. However, significant barriers persist: limited political will at higher levels of government, insufficient local implementation capacity, fragmented health information systems, and a lack of sustained funding—particularly for adaptation. At the same time, Argentina’s federal structure allows provinces and municipalities to advance climate and health initiatives independently, which may be perceived as a barrier or as an opportunity depending on the context. Technical teams and personal networks often maintain progress during periods of fluctuating political support.

Argentina’s experience underscores both the potential and the complexity of integrating climate and health agendas. By identifying key facilitators and obstacles, this study offers valuable lessons for other Latin American countries. Strengthening data interoperability, expanding local implementation capacity, securing consistent funding, raising awareness among the general population, health care professionals and other relevant stakeholders to build a common consensus on the urgency of tackling climate change will be critical for building a truly climate-resilient health system.