Climate services to improve public health.
A high level expert panel discussed how climate and health services could best collaborate to improve public health. This was on the agenda of the recent Third International Climate Services Conference, held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 4-6 December 2013. Issues and challenges concerning a demand led approach to serve the health sector needs, were identified and analysed. Important recommendations emerged to ensure that innovative collaboration between climate and health services assist decision-making processes and the management of climate-sensitive health risk. Key recommendations included: a move from risk assessment towards risk management; the engagement of the public health community with both the climate sector and development sectors, whose decisions impact on health, particularly the most vulnerable; to increase operational research on the use of policy-relevant climate information to manage climate- sensitive health risks; and to develop in-country capacities to improve local knowledge (including collection of epidemiological, climate and socio-economic data), along with institutional interaction with policy makers.
Health and Climate Foundation, Washington, DC 20005, USA. michel.jancloes@gmail.com.
Michel
M
Jancloes
International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, NY 10964, USA. mthomson@iri.columbia.edu.
Madeleine
M
Thomson
Climate Service Center, Fischerstwiete 1, Hamburg 20095, Germany. maria.manez@hzg.de.
María Mánez
MM
Costa
Met Office UK, Exeter, Devon EX1 3PB, UK. chris.hewitt@metoffice.gov.uk.
Chris
C
Hewitt
Pan American Health Organization, Brasilia CEP 70800-400, Brazil. corvalanc@paho.org.
Carlos
C
Corvalan
International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, NY 10964, USA. tufa@iri.columbia.edu.
Tufa
T
Dinku
Institut Català de Ciènces Del Clima, Barcelona 08005, Spain. rachel.lowe@ic3.cat.
Rachel
R
Lowe
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. mhayden@ucar.edu.
Mary
M
Hayden
D002980:Climate; D003657:Decision Making; D006296:Health Services; D006801:Humans; D011050:Policy Making; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment