As climate change accelerates, healthcare systems around the world are stepping up their game. By leveraging climate models, we're improving our ability to respond to extreme weather events like heavy rainfall and flooding—challenges that are only becoming more frequent.
Predictive Planning: Climate models help us forecast extreme weather, enabling better preparedness with stockpiled medical supplies and improved hospital capacity.
Resilient Infrastructure: In flood-prone areas, we're redesigning healthcare facilities to withstand the impact of severe weather, including elevating critical equipment and installing robust emergency power systems.
Targeted Disease Prevention: Models also help predict outbreaks of waterborne and vector-borne diseases, allowing us to take proactive steps, from vaccination campaigns to mosquito control initiatives.
Collaboration is key - healthcare systems and climate researchers, are working together to integrate these models into daily operations.
By acting now, we're not just reacting to the next crisis - we are building long-term resilience to protect public health in the face of a changing climate.
Our partner Rasmus Benestad from MET Norway (In photo) will hold a presentation in Barcelona on how we can make climate models help create more accurate regional climate predictions, which are crucial for planning and adapting to climate change with the title: “Modelling how climate change may affect outbreak of diarrhoea”.
Read more about the arrangement by European Meteorological Society in Barcelona this September: Communicating Weather and Well-Being
About the project:
SPRINGS is an EU-funded project focused on addressing the impact of climate change on waterborne diarrheal diseases. Diarrheal diseases are currently the third leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age globally. Compounded by global climate projections indicating increased precipitation, flooding, and drought, there is a looming threat to the progress made in reducing diarrheal disease burden. To inform and prioritise effective political responses, SPRINGS is building 4 case studies in Italy, Ghana, Romania, and Tanzania with contrasting vulnerabilities.