It is anticipated that the adverse effects of future climate variability and climate change will likely lead to increases in health related risks and vulnerability especially vector and water borne diseases. There is great concern for developing countries particularly small island developing states (SIDS) such as those in the Caribbean region, since the region is considered especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change and faces adverse effects of climate variability daily, monthly and seasonally. Risks such as a rise in the incidence of existing and emerging climate sensitive diseases, health impacts from lack of potable water supplies and lack of proper nutrition leading to an unhealthy population threatens the region’s health and development. Dengue fever (DF) has garnered much attention in the region since the burden of the disease in the present climate conditions is already substantial and is expected to increase in an altered future climate.
Policy implications for the use of the tool in decision-making:
- There is a need to develop policies and create sensitisation and capacity building among stakeholders to facilitate the use of the tool in the development of national plans and programmes in the health sector and others
- Ministries of Health in CARICOM countries should proactively seek the inclusion of science based evidence to inform the development of policies, plans and strategies
- Incorporating the application of the tool in future plans requires multi-sectoral support for detailed discussions regarding the results of the outputs and the corresponding implications on the other sectors
- The utility of the tools are wide-ranging as it relates to the health sector
- Stakeholders should also consider the need for capacity building to effectively operate and understand the scientific background of the tools
- Since outputs for the tools require the use of observed data, the government should consider the implementation of rigorous strategies to allow for the collection of more reliable and high quality data to support the further development and enhanced functionality of these tools
- Given the availability and accessibility of the tools, government departments can benefit from conducting future risk assessments to assess impact on risk reduction and diseases’ occurrences in order to prioritise future projects and focus on initiatives geared towards promoting resiliency