O-28 Climate Change and Early Warning Systems for Health: The Caribbean Perspective.
Author(s):
LG Boodram; P Williams
Country(ies) Of Focus:
- CARPHA Member States
- CARICOM Countries
Year of Presentation:
2023
Objective: To describe best practices and lessons learned to
date in the development of Early Warning Systems (EWS)
for health in the Caribbean.
Methods: This project adopted a collaborative, multi-strategic approach engaging national and regional stakeholders in the health and climate sectors. Baseline assessments and feasibility studies were conducted to determine country readiness for EWS development and pilot implementation. Following data harvesting, statistical risk prediction models were developed integrating health and climate data. After system set up, users should conduct testing to determine the accuracy and reliability of health event forecasting.
Results: Incipient work in the Caribbean has focused on the development of EWS for Vector Borne diseases (VBD) due to the availability of complete health data sets in this area. EWS can be structured to include multiple hazards and other variables to increase predictive ability on a routine basis, as well as post natural disaster events. In the Region, health EWS are integrated into a multisectoral, holistic intervention strategy for building climate resilience.
Conclusion: EWS have been successfully used to increase the lead time before an epidemic or event occurs, allowing action to prevent significant numbers of disease cases or fatalities. To support EWS work, surveillance systems in the Caribbean should be further strengthened to increase data availability for modelling of other climate sensitive diseases and conditions. This critical work requires continuous resource mobilisation to ensure that the gains made to date in the Region are expanded on and sustained in the future.