Abstracts
Improving Public Health Surveillance in the North Is Crucial for Adaptation
Pierre Gosselin1, Don Wigle, Chris Furgal and Sandra Owens.
1Université Laval
pierre-l.gosselin@crchul.ulaval.ca
The various impacts of climate change are far reaching, with potentially very significant implications for regional and national health care systems and stress the need for appropriate monitoring and surveillance programs and improved water and pollution control (NRC 2001), among others. Through these efforts, appropriate adaptation strategies can be developed, mitigating risk in some instances, and identifying other areas needing attention in future research, adaptation and environmental health protection, prevention and promotion programs (Last 2001). At the core of adaptation lies the process of knowledge transfer and its appropriation by the population and decision-makers - otherwise adaptation strategies may be ineffective and wasteful of scarce resources. We present the methodology of an action research project currently assessing several aspects of the ability of northern health and environmental organizations and departments to identify, monitor, manage and adapt to the various impacts of climate/environmental/socio-economic change on the health and lifestyles of Northerners through regional case studies. Specifically, the project will: 1. Assess the adequacy of present surveillance tools to support northern managers' ability to identify and monitor acute/chronic diseases, exposures, and other health determinants related to climate change and other impacts; 2. Identify policy implications for surveillance infrastructure, risk management framework and tools; 3. Propose, through regular interaction with stakeholders, options to develop capacity-building initiatives; 4. Initiate and implement pilot projects for upgrading the public health surveillance infrastructure as it relates to climate change. This project is funded by ArcticNet, a network of centers of excellence of Canada, for the period 2004-2007.
2005-04-05 |
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