Climate Change & Health Workshop Summary Reports
Changing Behaviours in a Time of Climate Change
Date And Location:
August 27 & 28, 2002
Quebec City, Quebec
Host Organization:
Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ)
The views expressed in this document are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Health Canada or the host organization.
List of Participants and Affiliations:
- Health Canada: Roy Kwiatkowski, Pierrette Miron, Sandra Owens, Dieter Riedel,
- Environment Canada: Linda Mortsch, Jean-François Bibeault, Alain Bourque,
- Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ): Pierre Gosselin and Jacques Grondin;
- University Researchers: Jimmy Roberge, Chris Furgal, and Daniel Martin, Centre de recherche du CHUQ, Shelley Ungar, University of Toronto; Danielle Maltais, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi; Gordon McBean, University of Western Ontario; Elaine Enarson, Metropolitan State College of Denver;
- Stakeholder Groups: François Boulanger, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency; Pamela Burr, Climate Change Secretariat; Jennifer Castleden, International Institute for Sustainable Development;
Workshop Objectives:
The primary objective of the workshop was to define the contribution (possible and actual) of social sciences to climate change health impact assessment and research, and to propose research and intervention priorities. The workshop focussed specifically on microsocial issues relevant to health-related impacts of climate change, namely how individuals understand and react to the effects of climate change on their health as this particular issue had been neglected in prior work done in the domain of climate change and health. The workshop also had the objective of highlighting the importance of knowledge transfer to deal with climate change issues.
Research Gaps and Priorities Identified:
The participants agreed upon the following items with respect to risk identification:
- climate change knowledge and perceptions of the general public and how this influences health, adaptive behaviours and decision making taking into account location, gender, age, ethnicity and economic variables.
- lack of research evaluating social issues associated with small-scale Canadian disasters
- lack of research on health care sought and provided relative to actual weather or climate effects
- interaction between traditional health practices of different cultural communities of Canada and climate change-related risks
- the influence of changing weather conditions on UV exposure and the resulting health risks associated with maladaptive beliefs
- the relationship between chronic pain and wellness (quality of life) and weather
The participants agreed upon the following items with respect to risk management:
- need for research on morbidity associated with vulnerable populations in extreme weather events like urban heat waves or cold periods
- need to undertake a detailed review of current hazards research to translate this data into health risks and their distribution, in order to evaluate impacts on quality of life and physical health.
- undertake research into the links between climate/weather variables and psychosocial disturbances
- need for research on the cultural dimensions of communication of warnings and other emergency information and the effect on decision making due to language barriers and cultural distortion of meanings
- need evaluation of effectiveness of existing communications around climate change, environmental health, hazard information and quality of life as an indicator of effectiveness of information that might be used in the future.
Recommendations:
- A concerted effort is required to integrate the social sciences into climate-related health impact assessment in Canada in order to better plan interventions on health determinants in the context of climate change in Canada.
Next Steps:
- Develop a long-term research initiative, supported by competent authorities, incorporating the social sciences into an approach to assessing and preparing adaptation strategies to health impacts related to climate change in Canada.
Dealing with Disaster: Impacts on Human Health
Date And Location:
September 27-28, 2002,
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
Host Organization:
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
The views expressed in this document are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Health Canada or Environment Canada.
List Of Participants And Affiliations:
60 participants
Workshop Objectives:
The primary objective of the workshop was to address issues related to mental health, injuries, preparedness, population displacement, damaged public health infrastructure and occupational health hazards that are affected by extreme weather events and to determine if there was a need for a research network to examine the health effects of extreme weather events. Participants had an opportunity to identify critical research gaps and priorities and develop recommendations on collaborative, cross-disciplinary strategies to address them.
Research Gaps and Priorities Identified:
Social sciences research on natural hazards is needed to provide a better understanding of vulnerability, social resilience, adaptive capacity, and behavioural change, particularly as it applies to:
- the health services system - becoming less resilient and more vulnerable due to heavy workloads, response to crisis events, hospital services being site-specific due to amalgamation and regional hospital boards, and lack of a uniform disaster reporting structure
- the public health system - little advocacy for strengthening the system. Need to identify best practices for disaster response; implications of lack of training in disaster public health; need for capacity development in disaster public health, mass immunizations etc.
- physical injuries - research needed to develop an education program to foster a culture of injury prevention during/after natural disasters, enhance building codes and early warning systems.
- mental health damage - more research into the mental health, social, and psychosocial impacts of disasters. Empirical guidelines required fo r immediate and lon g term community psychosocial responses to disaster.
- population displacement and the role of volunteers - volunteer infrastructure and capacity to cope with large-scale and multiple events, volunteer training, volunteer protection (legislation), preparation, and response, coping thresholds for professionals
- quick response disaster research teams - funding is needed for rapid-response research on disaster impacts to capture time sensitive information
- improved climate, weather and related health data - for development of better forecasting systems, disaster response planning
Recommendations:
- Develop a Canadian Research Network to better understand the causes and the health, social, and economic consequences of natural disasters.
- Develop a research agenda based on the research gaps/questions identified.
- The Network should support and encourage a strong research and research translation function.
- The Network should form partnerships for communication and public education on natural hazards, climate change, and health.
- Work with existing data collection agencies to standardize methods for data collection and organization.
- Advocate for increased funding support for natural disaster health impacts research.
Next Steps:
- Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction is to develop a Natural Disaster and Health Research Network
- Create a Quick Response Disaster Research Team in Canada to investigate disasters while they are happening and immediately after they happen.
- Prepare a set of regional scenarios of plausible futures for changing weather, including extremes, and their impact on human health.
- Establish a Pilot Project to examine extreme weather events and their impact on health.
The Impact of Climate Change on Air Pollution and Health
Date And Location:
May 16 & 17, 2002
Moncton, New Brunswick
Host Organization:
New Brunswick Lung Association
The views expressed in this document are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Health Canada or Environment Canada.
List of Participants and Affiliations:
- Health Canada: Sabit Cakmak, Douglas Haines, Wendy Thompson;
- Environment Canada: William Appleby, Jeffrey Brook, Shouquan Cheng, Patti Edwards, Guilong Il, Franck Portalupi, Gerald Ternan;
- Montreal Public Health Department: Louis Drouin and Tom Kosatsky;
- University Researchers: Guodong Sun, Carnegie Mellon University; Xizohong Xu, University of Windsor; Michelle Garneau, Université du Québec à Montréal; John Roscoe, Acadia University; Marion Sensen, Saint Mary`s University; Daniel Rainham;
- Stakeholder Groups: Norman Anderson, American Lung Association; Ellen Cooter, U.S. EPA; Gabrielle Kretzschmar, New Brunswick Partners in Agriculture; Garfield Marks, Greenhouse Gas Separation, Red Deer, Alberta; Sara Peckford, Conservation Corps Newfoundland and Labrador; Rhéal Poirier, Eastern Canadian Premiers= Association; Edward Smith, Community Recycling and Waste Management Committee, Cornerbrook, Nfld;
Workshop Objectives:
The primary objective of the workshop was to bring together health research, policy, public health and education, and stakeholder communities in both Canada and the United States to address climate change implications for outdoor and indoor air quality. Participants discussed development of predictive models and scenarios, synergistic or cascade effects of weather extremes on air pollution, and the effects of greenhouse gas mitigation measures. Research gaps were identified and formed the basis for developing collaborative interdisciplinary proposals for submission to funding agencies.
Research Gaps and Priorities Identified:
In the area of predictive models:
- develop more accurate long term climate models for smaller geographical areas that can incorporate air quality data and have the ability to predict changes in air quality, given the change in climate, and the resulting impact on health.
- develop common baseline data that are compatible in terms of resolution (amounts per size of area or time) and confidence (level of surity of data quality)
- integrate changes in air quality into health effects models to determine changes in exposure, resulting health effects and ultimately health costs.
- develop health and cost benefit scenarios using precise emission information (including anthropogenic, population, technological and economic changes)
- develop new models that use precise emission information and that incorporate new standards, technologies and emissions predicted if we meet Kyoto targets.
In the area of combined effects of heat/cold and air pollution; weather extremes and air pollution; climate change and pollen production/transportation; and the effects of mitigation (efforts to save energy and reduce greenhouse gases) on air pollution:
- a better understanding of individual versus population exposure; longterm versus episodic exposure; relative contribution of indoor versus outdoor pollution to morbidity and mortality; interactions between biological and non-biological components of indoor air; and differential impacts of heat, pollen levels, and air pollution.
- increase knowledge of effects of changes in home heating fuel use on health.
- increase knowledge of effects of changes in vehicle fuels (eg. increased ethanol use) on health.
- a better understanding of public perception of and response to the risks posed by climate change
- a better understanding of the impacts of air pollution on vulnerable groups like children, elderly, urban versus rural, and outdoor workers.
- a comprehensive study of the health impacts of indoor air pollution resulting from effects of climate change on outdoor air quality, allergen levels.
- an adaptation science study on how to communicate risks to the public, public perceptions of risk and behavioural responses to risk, and effectiveness of interventions.
- a multi city/regional study of impacts of climate change on air pollution and health
Recommendations:
- Identify champions in the following research areas:
- Improved modeling of climate impacts on air pollution and health
- Impact of climate change on indoor air pollution exposures, including potential multi-city approach and exposure of vulnerable groups
- Facilitate two early success collaborative projects that will stimulate interest in a Research Network on the Health Effects of Air Pollution.
- Develop a mechanism for ongoing dialogue among the communities of interest on this subject (Network membership).
- Solicit new funds for research identified by the Network.
Next Steps:
- The Air Pollution Network, coordinated by the New Brunswick Lung Association, will work toward develop ing concrete r esearch proposals for some of the areas specified as research gaps.
Temperature Related Morbidity and Mortality
Date And Location:
May 1, 2002
Toronto, Ontario
Host Organization:
Praxis Environmental
The views expressed in this document are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Health Canada or Environment Canada.
List of Participants and Affiliations:
- Health Canada: Dieter Riedel, Wendy Thompson
- Environment Canada: Joan Klaassen, Guilong Li, Sharon Jeffers, Abdel Maarouf, Joseph Shaykewich
- University Researchers: Scott Sheridan, Kent State University; Montreal Department of Public Health: Louis Drouin and Tom Kosatsky;
- Toronto Public Health Department: Nancy Day;
- Stakeholder Groups: Quentin Chiotti, Pollution Probe; Gordon McBean and Leanna Falkiner, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction; Daniel Rainham, Praxis Environmental; Tom McLellan, Michel Ducharme and Shawn Rhind, Defence R&D Canada;
Workshop Objectives:
The objectives of this workshop were to bring together representatives of the medical, environmental and policy communities to review and update the National Research Agenda on temperature-related health impacts arising from a changing climate; identify experts and researchers to expand a Network studying Temperature related Morbidity and Mortality; review data sources, methods and relevant research projects; identify vulnerabilities to, and impacts of temperature-related issues in the context of climate change; and propose research priorities and adaptation measures.
Research Gaps and Priorities Identified:
- lack of physiological information related to extreme temperature events for children, pregnant women, and the elderly while there is a rich supply of data for healthy males and in the sport, exercise, and recreation areas. However few guidelines for sport and recreation during heat alerts;
- lack of consistent reporting of medical visits related to heat/cold events;
- lack of consistency in reporting causes of death related to heat/cold events;
- lack of understanding of potential health impacts on occupations, especially those required to maintain public infrastructure on heat alert days (firefighters, garbage collectors);
- limited understanding of the health impacts from atmospheric risk factors, not just temperature and/or air pollution;
- data does not reflect the sequence of events which may be more important than individual daily events;
- need to develop a non-invasive reliable tool to measure body core temperature and blood pressure in the field;
- need to develop an evaluation mechanism for effectiveness of educational initiatives to inform public of risks associated with extreme heat/cold events; (Heat alert warnings)
- need to develop models that can assess impacts on entire population and not just the most vulnerable;
- need to examine how other risk behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption) confound the impact of extreme temperature events on human health;.
- need to examine the impact of heat/cold events on infectious, vector-borne and water- borne diseases;
- exacerabation of chronic diseases, especially those that are fluid related;
- psycho-social effects on vulnerable populations.
Recommendations:
- Increase the ability of current epidemiological and toxicological reporting methodologies, including risk assessment practices, to make linkages between health and temperature- related issues in the context of climate change.
- Increase the number of trans- and multi-disciplinary research projects devoted to the health effects of temperature-related events arising from climate change, using traditional and non-traditional funding sources.
- Increase research capacity through additional education programs.
- Increase collaboration among non-governmental and quasi-academic research groups with support from government agencies, to establish a plan for future research activities.
- Researchers and decision-makers need to form a consensus on the health impacts of temperature-related issues in the context of climate change so that precautionary rather than reactionary, measures can be implemented.
Next Steps:
- Develop a website to assist with knowledge dissemination and encourage trans-disciplinary research.
- Link with other research networks especially air pollution.
Expert Panel Workshop on Climate Change and Health & Well-Being in Canada: Key Findings and Recommendations
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Date:
April 15-16, 2002
Contributors
The summary of the "Expert Panel Workshop on Climate Change and Health & Well-being in Canada" (University of Ottawa on April 15-16, 2002) was developed by the R. Samuel McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment based on the views of the panel. Invited public health experts gave consideration to the health effects of climate change and the health benefits of possible Kyoto-driven policies and developed key findings and recommendations to guide further research in this area. A workshop entry document and a technical report entitled,  "Health Effects of Climate Change and Health Co-Benefits Resulting from Potential Kyoto-driven Policies: A Canadian Perspective" was also developed by Paula Carty, Philippe Crabbé, Lorraine Craig, and Daniel Krewski.
The workshop was attended by the following individuals:
- Mark Anielski (AMI)
- Jay Barclay (Environment Canada)
- Elaine Barrow (Canadian Climate Information Service)
- Peter Berry (Health Canada)
- Ake G. Blomqvist (University of Western Ontario)
- Paula Carty (McLaughlin Centre)
- Quentin Chiotti (Pollution Probe)
- Philippe Crabbé (University of Ottawa)
- Lorraine Craig (Network for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management)
- John Drexhage (International Institute for Sustainable Development)
- Betty Edwards (Health Canada)
- Meredith Franklin (Health Canada)
- Debbie Gordon (Environment Canada)
- Michael Jerrett (McMaster University)
- Daniel Krewski (McLaughlin Centre)
- John Last (University of Ottawa)
- Daniel Martin (Professionnel de Recherche)
- Gordon McBean (University of Western Ontario)
- Dieter Riedel (Health Canada)
- Ian Rutherford (Houle Rutherford Consulting Inc.)
- Michael Sharpe (Health Canada)
- Colin Soskolne (University of Alberta)
- Jerry Spiegel (University of British Columbia)
- Dean Stinson O'Gorman (Environment Canada)
- David Waltner-Toews (University of Guelph)
The views expressed in this document are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Health Canada or Environment Canada.
Background
At the request of the Climate Change and Health Office of Health Canada, the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Ri sk Assessment at the University of Ottawa organized the "Expert Panel Workshop on Climate Change and Health & Well-being in Canada"on April 15-16, 2002. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss key aspects of the health and social impacts of climate change in Canada, and to examine the role of co-benefits in the development of Canadian policy on climate change within the context of the Kyoto Protocol. Invited public health experts gave consideration to the health effects of climate change and the health benefits of possible Kyoto-driven policies and developed key findings and recommendations to guide further research in this area.
A workshop entry document was prepared to inform discussion at the meeting held in Ottawa. Participants at the workshop identified a number of key issues relating to the health and social impacts of climate change in Canada, and arrived at several conclusions regarding how such impacts could be incorporated into climate change policy risk management development. These key issues and conclusions are summarized below. A technical report entitled, "Health Effects of Climate Change and Health Co-Benefits Resulting from Potential Kyoto-driven Policies: A Canadian Perspective" is available on the Institute of Population Health website or, upon request, by contacting ClimatInfo@hc-sc.gc.ca.
Key Issues
- The current weight of scientific evidence suggests that climate change, an important component of global change, is upon us. Important effects of climate change include a warming of the earth's temperature and increased climate variability due, at least in part, to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs).
- Climate change portends significant health risks, both now and in the future. For instance:
- Extreme weather events consistent with climate change (including smog, hot spells, drought, blizzards, floods, and other natural disasters) are already affecting the health and welfare of Canadians, through heat stress and direct injury. Waterborne diseases, associated with climate change related weather events (extreme rainfall and high temperatures), are also affecting the health of Canadians.
- Air pollutants, including particulate matter and gaseous co-pollutants such as ozone, associated with the emission of GHGs are responsible for premature death and disease.
- Long-term direct health impacts of climate change include premature death and disabling illness due to increased temperature, extreme weather events, water and food borne enteric diseases, and cancer risks from ozone depletion.
- Climate change will place greater demands on the social infrastructure (including emergency services and social support systems) supporting public health and well-being.
- These health and social impacts will result in significant costs to Canadian society, including increased health care costs, loss of productivity, and broader damages to the well-being of Canadians. These impacts will vary by region.
- Climate change may confer some health benefits in some parts of Canada, such as enhanced nutrition due to increased agricultural productivity in northern parts of the country. However, altered ecosystems resulting from climate change will have more negative than positive consequences for human health.
- Although the occurrence of adverse population health impacts of climate change can be confidently anticipated, models for projecting the direct health effects of climate change require further development in order to provide quantitative estimates of the magnitude of such impacts. However, sufficient health research now exists to permit quantitative estimates of the health impacts of air pollutants associated with GHG emissions.
- Mitigation of climate change through GHG emissions reductions can have important co-benefits, including population health benefits due to improvements in ambient air quality. The Federal-Provincial Analysis and Modeling Group estimated the co-benefits of better air quality to be about $160 million (2001 $) per year over the next twenty years, largely as a consequence of preventing premature death and chronic disease, if the 2002 Climate Change Draft Plan from the federal government is implemented.
- Development of new pollution abatement technologies to achieve these health co-benefits can result in other economic benefits to society.
- Because the significant health risks that are likely to occur in the absence of global action on climate change, the uncertainties surrounding the magnitude of such risks, and the long-term ecological consequences of failing to take action, a precautionary approach to climate change risk management policy development is needed, as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- Reductions in Greenhouse Gases (GHG), and co-pollutants, which would be achieved by ratification and compliance with the Kyoto Protocol will result in avoided health costs to the Canadian health care system, in productivity gains for the Canadian economy, and in increased well-being for Canadian society.
- The stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations at current levels cannot be achieved without a much greater reduction in emissions levels than required under the Kyoto Protocol. However, compliance with the Kyoto Protocol represents a critical first step towards the mitigation of climate change in order to build the required national and international institutional architecture for addressing climate change.
Policy Recommendations
- The consideration of health benefits should be an essential component of the decision process to ratify the Kyoto Protocol by Canada. Ratification will result in avoided costs for the Canadian health care system and in increased well-being for Canadian society, both in the short-term and the long-term.
- Of particular importance are the health co-benefits associated with reductions in ambient air pollution that will occur as a consequence of planned reductions in emissions of GHGs, estimated at $160 million per year (2001$; Government of Canada, 2002b). These benefits occur in the short-term and are more certain than the long-term benefits of reducing the direct health effects of climate change. Long-term direct health impacts include morbidity and mortality due to increased temperature, and transmission of communicable diseases through new insect vectors.
- Opportunities for realizing climate-related co-benefits through the implementation of Canada-Wide Standards for air quality should be explored as future programs for attainment of the standards are developed. The development of new technologies to achieve health co-benefits can result in economic benefits to society in terms of innovation.
- Health benefits should be included as negative costs in estimating the burden of climate change within the health and social sectors.
- In developing a risk management strategy for climate change, there is a need to balance short-term and long-term policy options and impacts, and to develop an appropriate mix of cost-effective intervention s to achieve our national and international policy objectives. Consideration needs to be given to more immediate impacts such as health co-benefits, as well as longer-term impacts relating to the direct health effects of climate change.
- No region or social group should bear an unreasonable portion of the costs associated with the health and social impacts of climate change. Special consideration needs to be given to vulnerable groups, including children, the elderly, the poor, First Nations and Northern populations, and those individuals with pre-existing health conditions.
- The Government of Canada, like governments worldwide faced with the challenge of developing appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies for addressing climate change, should adopt a precautionary approach in the face of uncertainty about health impacts of climate change. Such an approach is consistent with the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol.
- Health risk scenarios should be constructed periodically using the best available information on climate change anticipated in different regions of Canada, and on the potential health risks associated with such changes. These scenarios, which will reflect the range of uncertainty associated with future climate change impacts, will permit comparisons of different policy responses and associated costs.
- The Canadian public is largely unaware of the potential health and social impacts of climate change. Informative health messages should be developed to provide the public with an understanding of this important population health issue, impacting both present and future generations.
Directions for Further Research
- Scenarios for climate change are in need of further research and development. IPCC (2000) concluded that there are global and regional scientific databases for defining baseline conditions. There is a need to incorporate into these databases other variables that influence climate, and the climate sensitivity and adaptability of ecosystems and of human populations. Scenarios for climate change need to incorporate and represent socio-economic information, land use and environmental information, scenarios at greater spatial resolutions. There is also a need to develop scenarios that link science and policy (IPCC, 2001).
- Climate scenarios need to be linked to scenarios for health effects and for adaptation to future health conditions. Health issues have been rarely included into climate scenarios, and are influenced by regional conditions. For example, air quality depends on proximity to human sources of air pollution, and on geographic features, as well as on climate. Vector bone diseases which may be moving northward, may acquire different characteristics and / or may require different control methods in different regions. Climate models thus need to be region-specific in order to effectively project the human health implications of climate change and climate variability.
- Research is required to better understand environmental and health co-benefits, especially at the very disaggregated level, where they may be quite significant despite their uncertainties. Because of the inherent inability to conduct international comparisons, studies need to be conducted in Canada where the baseline can be kept relatively constant.
- The socio-economic models supporting air quality policy decisions need improvements, as recommended in the Report of the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel to Review the Socio-economic Models and Related Components Supporting the Development of Canada-wide Standards for PM and Ozone.
- Improved health risk assessment and population health surveillance are required to better understand the linkages between climate change, air quality, water- and food-borne contamination, vector-borne diseases, population vulnerability factors, and health effects in Canada to inform mitigation and adaptation strategies to protect public health.
- Research should be undertaken to better understand the synergistic health co-benefits that are possible through emission reductions strategies to meet Canada-wide standards for PM and ozone and to achieve desired GHG emission reductions.
Climate Change and Infectious Diseases Research
Date And Location:
August 13-14, 2002
Vancouver, B. C.
Host Organization:
Centre for Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, Health Canada
The views expressed in this document are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Health Canada or Environment Canada.
List of Participants and Affiliations:
- Health Canada: Dominique Charron, Theresa Brooks, Judy Greig, Peter Buck, Harvey Artsob
- Environment Canada: Abdel Maarouf, Simone de Rosemond,
- University Researchers: Colin Soskolne, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta; Suzana Dragicevic, Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University; Justine Klaver, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta; David Swann, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary; David Waltner-Toews, Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph; Bill Bowie, University of British Columbia;
- Stakeholder Groups: Gabrielle Kretzschmar, New Brunswick Partner in Agriculture; George Eng, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority; Susan Germain, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment; Erin Sifton and Craig Stephen, Centre for Coastal Health; Diane Keay, Salt Lake Valley Health Department, Utah; Diane Kindree; Julie Picard, PHN, Direction Santé Publique Monteregie; Susan Wong, New York State Department of Health; Elizabeth Wood, Lyme Borreliosis Support Group of Manitoba; and from the
- B. C. Centre for Disease Control: Judy Isaac-Renton, Belinda Wong, Corinne Ong, Lorna Tom, Amelia Trinidad, Bob Brunham, Murray Fyfe, Muhammad Morshed, Joe Fung.
Workshop Objectives:
The primary objective of the workshop was to bring together Canadian research expertise in order to refine a national research agenda on climate change implications for infectious diseases by identifying the current state of knowledge, highlighting existing knowledge gaps and research priorities, and providing direction for policy makers. In addition, this workshop provided a venue to launch two Climate Change and Health Research Networks - Foodborne and Waterborne Contaminants (FWC) and Vectorborne and Zoonotic Diseases (VZD) and to discuss how potential members can best be served through these networks.
Research Gaps and Priorities Identified:
There is inadequate research in foodborne and waterborne, vectorborne and zoonotic diseases that captures the ecology of disease from the source to the human case of disease. As a result, it is very difficult to identify where and how climate change might alter the hazards posed by these diseases. The workshop participants recommend additional research on the ecology of all these groups of diseases and broadening the scope of existing research on food and waterborne infections to take into account the ecology of the system.
Some aspects getting very little attention include:
- impacts of climate variability and change on estuarine water quality and the implications for health;
- fungal diseases and vulnerability to climate var iability and chang e;
- global climate change and human health risks associated with imported food and livestock;
- climate change impact on exotic food-borne/waterborne diseases like cholera, cyclospora.
Specific gaps in areas of water- and food-borne contamination:
- role of climate on survival and transmission of pathogens in livestock, transport and food processing;
- role of climate in watersheds and in the contamination of water;
- climate impacts on toxic substances in food and water;
- climate impacts on non-treated water and health (private wells, beaches, etc);
- rapid detecton of contaminant and identification of source, in order to respond rapidly to climate-related contamination;
- behavioural modification and reduced vulnerability to foodborne illness as it relates to cultural, social, and societal preferences and food handling/processing norms.
In areas of vectorborne and zoonotic diseases:
- tick-borne diseases and climate change;
- West Nile Virus and the role of climate in the spread of WNV; surveillance; vectors as indicators of human risk;
- rodent-borne diseases and climate change;
- impact of climate change on zoonoses in marine mammals, wild ungulates;
- impact of climate change on diseases not yet in Canada but geographically nearby;
- climate change impact on exotic vectorborne diseases - travel and unintentional vector importation.
Of relevance to both areas:
- adequacy of current surveillance systems to detect significant changes in prevalence and distribution of pathogens; link surveillance info to climate - is climate an indicator for potential disease event;
- early warning indicators - animal populations;
- wildlife ecology, wildlife health, biodiversity;
- impacts of extreme weather events on public health infrastructure and vulnerability to infectious disease outbreaks;
- adaptation planning for infectious disease risks, toxic contamination events.
Research Priorities:
- acquire a better understanding of the impact of climate variability on the ecology of vectorborne/zoonotic and water-/foodborne diseases already present in Canada;
- assess the capacity of existing public health infrastructure to detect (early warning systems) and respond to (rapid response plans) emerging infectious diseases in the context of climate change;
- assess the explosive potential of existing infectious diseases under conditions of climate change;
- understand factors contributing to individual and population vulnerabilities to infectious diseases in the face of climate change;
- conduct risk-assessments to help assign response priorities;
- need to coordinate systems of meteorological monitoring and disease surveillance.
Recommendations:
- Research, surveillance, and public health promotion funding need to be increased.
- Interdisciplinary approaches are required to address the complex problems associated with research on infectious diseases and climate change.
- New researchers need to be trained in interdisciplinary approaches.
- Research Networks linking this relatively small research community are vital to creating the critical mass needed to accomplish the research.
- Open channels of communication with policy-makers and public health professionals to keep the research current and the decision-makers up-to-date on new findings.
Next Steps:
- The Centre for Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, Health Canada will coordinate two separate networks - Food and Water-borne Contaminants (FWC) and Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases (VZD) Research Networks.
- Set up listservs to allow for communication among Network.
- Arrange another face-to-face meeting within the next 24 months
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