This year’s World Environment Day theme focuses on a global challenge with pressing implications on human health and the environment: air pollution. To further understand the relationship between human health and environmental health, the Climatelinks’ June theme explores how climate impacts health from air pollution to rising global temperatures and more frequent and extreme weather. According to the World Health Organization, climate change is projected to cause approximately 250,000 deaths annually worldwide due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress by 2030 to 2050.
USAID promotes climate risk management and preparedness for national and local health through adaptive strategies and climate integration. The Agency’s work supports communities, governments, and institutions such as health systems to become more resilient to changes in climate.
USAID’s Adaptation, Thought Leadership and Assessments (ATLAS) project builds evidence-based practices to understand the relationship between climate events and disease incidence. ATLAS uses observational data sets from countries such as Mozambique and Malawi to understand climate vulnerability and health risks. ATLAS is also working to establish climate-informed early warning systems to improve country’s preparedness to respond to emerging health risks.
A key to USAID’s success in developing foundational research and tools includes collaboration with stakeholders, local governments, and regional partners to effectively integrate climate and weather information into health sector programming. For example, Health National Adaptation Plans are helping predict future health risks based on climate projections.
Explore some top resources on human health and climate below:
Evidence and Tools
- The Emerging Evidence on Climate Change and Health in Africa report summarizes the evidence base on climate and health for a variety of diseases including malaria, cholera, undernutrition. This report also looks at less studied risks such as dengue fever, meningococcal meningitis, schistosomiasis, Rift Valley fever and heat stress.
- Climate-Resilient Development 101 is an online course that provides an overview of climate risk management. One section addresses climate risks to human health.
- Emerging Evidence and Experience to Inform Risk Management in a Warming World examines efforts to better understand and manage the risks of extreme heat on human wellbeing and provides recommendations to develop adaptive climate-resilient systems.
- The World Health Organization’s Operational framework for building climate resilient health systems provides guidance on how the health sector can systematically and effectively address the challenges presented by climate variability and change.
- The Epidemic Prognosis Incorporating Disease and Environmental Monitoring for Integrated Assessment (EPIDEMIA) is a highly developed prediction tool that actively supports malaria early warning in epidemic-prone regions through earth observation data.
Blogs
- Understanding and Addressing the Risks of Extreme Heat on Human Health explores USAID’s work in building a heat-health knowledge base and supporting efforts to improve heat risk management.
- Saving Forests with a Stethoscope looks at work by USAID and Health in Harmony to reduce illegal logging of the orangutan peat forest by addressing the main driver: difficulty in accessing healthcare.
- As Cholera Strikes, Climate and Health Integration Take on Urgency in Mozambique examines the ATLAS project’ work in helping Mozambique’s National Health Institute better use information about climate impacts on water and vector-borne diseases.
- BreatheLife: Global Campaign to Reduce Air Pollution for our Health and Climate showcases the BreatheLife campaign to mobilize cities, regions, and countries to achieve WHO air quality guidelines by 2030.
- Can Ocean Temperatures Forecast Malaria Transmission in Southern Africa? Highlights recent efforts to develop early warning systems for malaria using climate information, offering insight on how this information could improve malaria intervention programs.
Scroll through more of Climatelinks’ health-related blogs or search the list of health-related resources. Visit the ATLAS project page to learn about their climate-related assessments and contribution to the global adaptation and development community of practice. Stay tuned for a number of dynamic blogs coming across a variety of health topics!
Within USAID, the Bureau for Global Health, the Office of Infectious Disease, the Office of Maternal and Child Health, and the Africa Bureau develop, implement, and promote interventions to prevent illness and death associated with environmental factors.
Isabela Barriga
Isabela es gerente de redes sociales y coordinadora de contenido para Climatelinks a través del proyecto SEEK de USAID. Ella ayuda con la gestión de la información, la investigación y la redacción de blogs. Anteriormente, Isabela brindó apoyo de comunicación y gestión de contenido a organizaciones intergubernamentales, asociaciones público-privadas y misiones diplomáticas, incluidas las Naciones Unidas, GAVI (actualmente, la Alianza de Vacunas) y la Embajada de Ecuador. Isabela tiene un B.S. en Salud Pública y estudios completos en Desarrollo Internacional y Gestión de Conflictos (Universidad de Maryland, College Park).
