Activities using climate information to save lives

The malaria early warning project is one of many collaborative efforts to integrate climate predictions and information into public health decision-making. Other recent and ongoing projects to address disease, heatwaves and air quality events include:

WMO - coordinated observational networks, such as the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), collect information about ozone, ultraviolet and solar radiation, greenhouse gases and particles from biomass burning and dust storms to better understand human contributions to climate altering air pollution and to enable responses to protect public health.

More than 65 countries actively host GAW stations, which share data through five GAW World Data Centres. A specialized component of GAW called GURME (GAW Urban Research Meteorology and Environment) focuses on monitoring pollution in the urban environment, including monitoring in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and North America.

Malaria Outlook Forums establish dialogue between the public health sector and weather and climate experts to facilitate the development of integrated products for malaria prevention in Southern Africa. Partners include WMO, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, the Southern African Development Community’s Drought Monitoring Centre in Botswana, WHO and the Malaria Early Warning Systems program, among others.

In Ethiopia, the Ministry of Health and the National Meteorological Agency have joined forces to monitor regional climate in support of malaria surveillance and early warning.

Maps of climatological data are published in monthly bulletins distributed by the Ministry of Health’s National Malaria Control Team, and they are also posted on the RANET (Radio and Internet for the Communication of Hydrometeorlogical and Climate Related Information) Website, which provides access to climate and weather information in rural areas of Africa and the South Pacific. The joint project aims to assist in planning malaria surveillance, allocating drugs, controlling mosquito populations and raising public awareness of the issue.

In 2007, the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), in cooperation with the Jakarta Local Health Office, conducted research on correlating dengue fever with climate to enable local authorities to take measures to reduce the risk of the fever.

The Hong Kong Observatory has been studying the impact of climate on health in Hong Kong, China, with particular focus on thermal stress and the occurrence of infectious and vector-borne diseases. The research findings will form the basis for the development and operation of public health-related weather services and climate assessments in collaboration with all key stakeholders. The Hong Kong Observatory also provides climatological support to medical experts for other climate and health studies in Hong Kong.

The WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS) facilitates sand and dust storm forecasting to give advance warning to affected communities, which tend to be in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South-East Asia and the South-Western United States. Approximately 14 Operational Research Dust Forecasting Centres produce daily dust and sand forecasts.

Established in 2004, the French Heat Health Watch Warning System activates a national action plan as soon as dangerous heat threatens the population. The national Health Watch Institute and Meteo-France work jointly to provide real-time weather and health data and forecasts, along with guidance to health professionals and the public, to increase safety during heatwaves. WMO and WHO are jointly developing Guidance on Implementation of Heat Health Early Warning Systems to enhance similar joint efforts elsewhere in the world.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) provides early warning information on extreme temperature events. The information is aimed at forecasting the possibility of the occurrence of significant hot and cold extremes with a one-to two-week lead time. The early warning information is widely used to mitigate the impacts of extreme temperatures on health, as well as other sectors, such as agriculture and energy.

Courtesy: World Meteorological Organization