The humanitarian impact of extreme heat is an increasing concern, especially in low-income countries with limited access to quality healthcare and informal dwellings which can trap heat. This report analyses the knowledge, attitude and practice of Karachi residents in relation to managing extreme heat. It was conducted in 2020 following a messaging campaign led by HANDS related to extreme heat. The project was triggered through a disaster risk financing approach, using a heatwave model to trigger funding automatically when extreme heat was forecast.

The research questions are:

1. What are the most and least effective channels for distributing heatwave messages?
2.  Have the awareness messages through mass media campaign proven effective in improving the knowledge and practices of study participants?
3. What are the populations’ attitudes to receiving further heatwave messages and protecting themselves from extreme heat?
4. Are participants reporting symptoms from extreme heat? Were recipients who had high scores for measures they took against heat less likely to experience heatstroke?

This report is a result of fruitful collaboration between the START Network HANDS Pakistan and Welt Hunger Hilfe. Preliminary support for the actual project “Heatwave Anticipatory Response” was provided by Action against hunger (ACF), Minister of foreign affairs Netherland and Pakistan Disaster management authority Sindh, Pakistan.