Lagos State Health Adaptation Plan

Project Overview

The Lagos State Health Adaptation Plan is a climate-health resilience strategy developed by Lagos State to address the growing intersection between environmental change and public health outcomes across the state's 20 million-plus population. EAA Associates Ltd contributed technical environmental advisory, climate risk analysis, and ecological assessment support to this landmark public health and climate policy initiative.

The plan represents one of the most comprehensive sub-national climate-health adaptation frameworks in West Africa, establishing a structured response to flood-related disease burden, heat stress, air quality degradation, and the health implications of environmental displacement.

Context & Challenge

Lagos State faces compounding climate risks — rising sea levels, increasingly severe flooding, extreme heat events, and coastal erosion — all of which carry direct and indirect public health consequences. These include elevated rates of vector-borne disease following floods, respiratory illness linked to poor air quality, and mental health burdens associated with environmental disruption and displacement.

Developing a structured, evidence-based adaptation plan required rigorous environmental data collection, climate modelling, health systems analysis, and stakeholder engagement across government ministries, health institutions, and community organisations.

EAA's Technical Contribution

• Climate risk mapping and environmental vulnerability assessment for health hotspots
• Flood impact modelling linked to disease transmission pathways
• Environmental baseline data collection across key health facility zones
• Advisory input to health-environment integration within the adaptation framework
• Recommendations for green infrastructure to reduce urban heat and flood risk around health facilities
• Capacity building sessions with Lagos State Ministry of Health and Environment staff

Key Adaptation Strategies Supported

EAA's advisory contributions supported the development of several core adaptation strategies within the plan, including early warning systems for flood-disease events, nature-based solutions for urban cooling around health infrastructure, and community-level environmental health education programmes.

The plan also incorporated EAA's recommendations for environmental screening protocols to be integrated into the state's health facility planning and construction approvals process.

Impact & Legacy

• Structured climate-health vulnerability framework adopted by Lagos State
• Environmental health integration embedded in state health planning processes
• Green infrastructure recommendations for 40+ health facility sites
• Technical capacity built within state environment and health ministries
• Plan serves as a model for climate-health adaptation in other Nigerian states