Developing an Experimental Climate and Health Monitor and Outlook

Abstract

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) Climate and Health Monitor and Outlook (CHMO) workshop convened 23 experts in climate and health from government and academia to understand how existing climate and health prediction systems for specific diseases, vectors, and pathogens are producing and sharing information for health decision-making.The principal goal of the workshop was to understand how a national, integrated climate and health outlook, focused on vector-borne diseases, could be developed to support public health decision-makers in managing health risks. The CHMO workshop enabled the group to incorporate lessons and information from the many existing disease prediction systems across the nation to discuss how to create a consistent national view of potential health impacts from predicted future climatic conditions. This workshop summary synthesizes our discussion, captures a table of datasets and products that the CHMO can draw upon to characterize important aspects of climate-sensitive disease risk, and suggests a set of next steps to achieve progress in predicting these risks.