In the interview the researchers argue that large positive effects on human health are possible over the next few decades if we choose the right strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In an article on SciDev.Net, he focuses on vector-borne infections, saying that the “top priority” in the fight against these diseases is the development of R&D capacity in developing countries. George Kasali’s view is that, “…it is wrong for the governments of developing counties to relinquish their own R&D responsibilities in favour of research driven by donor organisations”.

Climate change will also have a major impact on water-borne infections.

The article quotes Montira Pongsiri, of the US Environmental Protection Agency, who says, “We appear to be undergoing a distinct change in global disease ecology”. She and her colleagues argue that the loss of animal and plant species, together with the destruction of their habitats, brings people into closer contact with animal diseases, particularly those transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes.

Also interviewed is Jan Slingenbergh, of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. He says that at least 45 diseases have jumped the human-animal species barrier over the last two decades.

Increasing globalization is also cited as a factor.

Details of the awards are available in an NSF press release.

In furthering these research requirements, a meeting was held in Geneva last week to elucidate the relative importance of climate-environmental-social drivers of the major vector-borne diseases that impact on the health of the world’s poor. The meeting: “Effects of Environmental and Climate Change on Major Disease Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases: Current Evidence and Research Priorities” was an informal expert consultation convened by the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR).

It was apparent from the discussions that the climate-environmental-social determinants of major vector-borne diseases vary greatly over time, by disease and by region. If health services are to be adaptive to climate change, then they must be enabled to better understand the linkages between the drivers of disease and their outcomes, in order to design and implement more effective and responsive control strategies. This will require concerted research capacity building and training. Such initiatives will need to be truly interdisciplinary and must enable effective partnership across climate and environmental services and public health services. Climate services are increasingly open to joint research into societal benefit areas, such as public health. This was clearly evident at the World Climate Conference held in Geneva in September 2009, where WHO and WMO gathered their partners to promote the development of Climate Services for Public Health.

Recognition of these vital research requirements and the benefits they will have for more effective health care are vitally important considerations for the discussions in Copenhagen this week and we look forward to concerted multilateral support to such initiatives.

Stephen J. Connor is a Senior Research Scientist based at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University, New York – a WHO Collaborating Centre on Climate Sensitive Diseases.

References
1. Costello A et al (2009). Managing the health effects of climate change: Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission. Lancet; 373(9676):1693-1733.
2. World Health Organization (2009). Protecting health from climate change: Global research priorities. WHO, Geneva. Available online: http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/9789241598187/en/index.html.

The report goes on to call for urgent action to build climate resilience into existing health programmes to improve the health and nutrition of women and children under five

Apart from what the eye can see – for example, melting glaciers or early blossoms – there are other events that are not obvious to the eye, such as relocating isotherms. These are lines that connect areas with the same temperature. Particular animals and plants are constrained to exist within certain isotherms where their physiology has been adapted. A shift in an isotherm will lead to a shift in animal and plant species as new areas become suitable habitats. Unfortunately, the animals that are shifting include arthropods that transmit diseases to humans.

One of the effects of climate change is to shift isotherms altitudinally and longitudinally. While scientists continue to debate the impacts of climate change, other species are busy adapting to climate change and this includes colonizing new, warmer habitats.

A couple of examples have been observed in the East African highlands. In addition to the melting glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, malaria and schistosomiasis are shifting to new areas in the highlands. Malaria has now become established in the Central Kenya highlands, where it did not exist prior to 1990. In 1993 the mean annual temperature rose permanently above 18oC, the isotherm that is a barrier to malaria transmission. In the highlands of Western Uganda, intestinal schistosomiasis (Schistosoma mansoni) has been reported at higher altitudes. Earlier records indicate that intestinal schistosomiasis occurred only at altitudes below 1,400 metres above sea level. However, recent data indicate that the disease now occurs at 1,682 metres above sea level. Areas that were historically free of major tropical diseases in East Africa are very likely to become endemic for malaria and schistosomiasis, diseases that cause serious morbidity and mortality at lower altitudes. It is more than likely that other infectious disease will follow suit.

Heavy investments are required to control these diseases since prevention is better and probably cheaper than cure. Adapt now!

Dr Andrew K Githeko PhD, Climate and Human Health Research Unit, Kenya Medical Research Institute.

The findings of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, indicate that temperature fluctuation reduces the impact of increases in mean temperature. When mean diurnal variation is over 21°C, parasite development is slower than at constant temperatures. Lower levels of variation speed parasite development. The researchers conclude that, “…models which ignore diurnal variation overestimate malaria risk in warmer environments and underestimate risk in cooler environments”.