WHO sets the agenda for climate and health research

SciDev.net: Experts have developed a research agenda to better understand and deal with the impacts of climate change on human health. The agenda was developed by more than 80 researchers and representatives from donor and UN agencies at a WHO meeting on climate change and health, held in Madrid, Spain, this week (6–8 October).

The aim is to to "speed up, focus and intensify climate change and health research," said Maria Neira, WHO director of public health and environment, at a news conference. "We want to provide the best possible scientific evidence base for governments to take protective actions to protect the people from climate change."

The agenda identifies several priority research areas, including how climate change will interact with key factors affecting health, such as economic development, urbanisation, access to care and exposure to health risks.

More research is needed to better characterise the long-term effects of climate change — such as drought, fewer freshwater resources and population displacement — on health. Such effects will have a major impact on mental health and increase the risk of conflict, say the researchers.

…The lack of research in developing countries is the most immediate gap, said Tony McMichael, director of the National Center of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University and chair of the Madrid meeting, at the news conference. "Most of the research done in the last decade has been done in developed countries, but in general the risks from climate change on health will be greater in lower income countries, particularly those in geographically vulnerable regions of world. We need to address this imbalance."…