Field Actions Science Reports www.field-actions-sci-rep.net 1867-139X 1867-8521 2 1 2009 10.5194/facts-2-63-2009 http://www.field-actions-sci-rep.net/2/63/2009/ http://www.field-actions-sci-rep.net/2/63/2009/facts-2-63-2009.html http://www.field-actions-sci-rep.net/2/63/2009/facts-2-63-2009.pdf 63 67 2009-02-09 Using climate information in the health sector T. A. Ghebreyesus Z. Tadesse D. Jima E. Bekele A. Mihretie Y. Y. Yihdego T. Dinku S. J. Connor D. P. Rogers drogers@bluewin.ch Ministry of Health, P.O. Box 1234, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia National Meteorological Agency, P.O. Box 1090, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Anti Malaria Association, P.O. Box 27279, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Center for National Health Development in Ethiopia, P.O. Box 664, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia International Research Institute for Climate & Society (IRI), The Earth Institute at Columbia University, 119 Monell, Lamont Campus, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA Health and Climate Foundation, 1425 K St. NW Suite 350, Washington DC 20005, USA Many infectious and chronic diseases are either directly or indirectly sensitive to the climate. Managing this climate sensitivity more effectively requires new working relationships between the health sector and the providers of climate data and information. In Africa, where communities are particularly vulnerable, Ministries of Health and National Meteorological Services need to collaborate to reduce the burden of climate-related ill health. <br><br> The Ministry of Health and the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia have made significant progress towards the development of a climate-informed early warning and response system for diseases such as malaria and other climate-sensitive diseases. An important enabling mechanism is a Climate and Health Working Group, which is a multi-sectoral partnership created to spearhead the use of climate information for health interventions. While this is a work in progress, the key ingredients necessary to sustain such a joint venture are described to encourage similar activities in other countries faced with a growing climate-sensitive disease burden, to facilitate networking and to increase the return from the investment. APF: Climate Change and Africa, 8th Meeting of the Africa Partnership Forum, Berlin, Germany, 22–23 May 2007, 28 pp., available online: http://www.africapartnershipforum.org/dataoecd/57/7/38897900.pdf, 2007. Connor, S. J., Dinku, T., Wolde-Georgis, T., Bekele, E., and Jima, D.: A collaborative Epidemic Early Warning & Response initiative in Ethiopia, in: Proceedings of International Symposium on PWS: A Key to Service Delivery, Geneva, 3–5 December 2007, World Meteorological Organization, 166–171, 2008. Grover-Kopec, E. K., Blumenthal, M. B., Ceccato, P., Dinku, T., Omumbo, J. A., and Connor, S. J.: Web-based climate information resources for malaria control in Africa, Malaria Journal, 5(38), 9~pp., 2006. IRI: A Gap Analysis for the implement of the Global Climate Observing System in Africa. IRI Technical Report #IR-TR/06/01, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, The Earth Institute, Columbia University Palisades, New York, 52 pp., available online: http://iri.columbia.edu/outreach/publication/report/06-01/report06-01.pdf, 2007. Kiszewski, A. E. and Teklehaimanot, A.: A review of the clinical and epidemiological burdens of epidemic malaria, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 71 (Supplement~2), 128–135, 2004. Rogers, D. P., Boulahya, M. S., Thompson, M. A., Connor, S. J., Dinku, T., Johm, K. B., Shalaby, H. R., Ahmadu, B., and Niang, A.: National Climate and Environmental Service for Development, in: Proceedings of the International Symposium on PWS: A Key to Service Delivery, Geneva, 3–5 December 2007, World Meteorological Organization, 87–92, 2008. WHO-UNICEF: World Malaria Report, World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, Geneva, p 295, 2005. WHO: Malaria epidemics: forecasting, prevention, early detection and control – From policy to practice, WHO/HTM/MAL/2004.1098, 2004. Worrall, E., Rietveld, A., and Delacollette, C.: The burden of malaria epidemics and cost-effectiveness of interventions in epidemic situations in Africa, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 71 (Supplement~2), 136–140, 2004.