SI 2009 Feature - Training public health decision makers
A glimpse from Summer Institute 2008. Daniel Yeow/IRI
Starting this week, 12 public-health professionals and climate scientists from ten countries are visiting Columbia University's Lamont campus, where the International Research Institute for Climate and Society is based, to learn how to use climate information to make better decisions for health-care planning and disease prevention. They're taking part in the second Summer Institute on Climate Information for Public Health, organized by IRI, the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the Mailman School of Public Health. Now that the world's attention is focused on climate change, it is essential for the health community to better understand the role climate plays in determining the fundamentals of health - air, water and food - as well as its role as a driver of specific outcomes related to infectious disease. "After all, health is fundamental to the way we understand human well-being, and a key indicator of sustainable development", says Madeleine Thomson, who runs the IRI's Health and Africa programs, and is a principal organizer of the course. "Here, we like to think of climate as both a challenge and a resource." Extreme weather events or prolonged droughts are often associated with negative outcomes, Thomson says, but by understanding climate and its associated impacts and potential predictability, decision makers can start responding proactively to climate challenges. In some situations, they can even get ahead of the game, she says. "This climate risk management approach is new to the health sector and, therefore, we are particularly excited to have such a talented group of participants and facilitators to explore the most effective ways to use climate information in decision making." One such facilitator is instructor Patrick L. Kinney, the director of the new Climate and Health Program at The Mailman School. "Climate knowledge is a key input to public-health research and translational program development aimed at reducing future health impacts of a changing climate over both near-term and long-term time horizons," he says. Click a marker to view biographies of Summer Institute 2009 participants. The course targets professionals who play a research role in the operational decision making or public health-care planning, evaluation, surveillance or control of climate-sensitive diseases. This year's participants include heads of disease-surveillance and epidemic preparedness and response teams, forecast and early-warning specialists, climate scientists and biostatisticians. They come from institutions in Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America. Explore the Google map below to view their biographies. The students face an intense daily schedule, packed with lectures and exercise sessions meant to introduce them to computational tools that integrate epidemiological data with the wide variety of available climate, population and environmental data. For example, students will learn the fundamentals of using geographic-information-systems (GIS) to conduct spatial analysis. "GIS allows us to see where people live, the social, economic and physical conditions they confront and their level of exposure to potential health threats," says instructor Mark Becker, associate director of CIESIN's geospatial applications division. "Using a GIS-based model, we can look at the coincidence of regions at high risk of malaria and areas of high population density to design a more effective control program for example," he says. IRI's Gilma Mantilla, one of the Summer Institute's main organizers, believes the course will provide exciting opportunities and exploration for the participants. "I hope they leave here with a better understanding of how the climate and public health fields can be integrated to enhance their own institutions capacity and capability for action," she says. The Summer Institute will run from June 1 to June 12. For more information, please visit the SI2009 home page. About the Mailman School of Public Health About the IRI
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