What are the health impacts of climate change, and what role does surveillance play?

Climate observations and models provide a better understanding of current and future climate change. These changes could alter the environment, the factors determining exposure to environmental and infectious risks, and ultimately the health status of the population. In this context, health surveillance has three main roles: 1) to contribute to monitoring and understanding the health impacts of climate change by building datasets that can be analyzed over long periods of time; 2) to provide information for prioritizing adaptation actions, implementing them, and evaluating their effectiveness; and 3) to anticipate emerging threats. While it is not necessary to create new health surveillance systems for this purpose, better integration between environmental and health surveillance and greater interdisciplinarity are needed to meet these new objectives. (R.A.)

Author(s): Pascal M, Medina S, Viso AC, Beaudeau P

Publishing year: 2012

Pages: 146-148

Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, 2012, n° 12-13, p. 146-148

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