2009 Articles

2009 Summer Institute on Climate Information for Public Health

Cibrelus, L.; Mantilla, G.

As the world’s attention is increasingly focused on the effects of climate change, it is essential to better understand the role that climate plays in community health and disease. Equally important is the need for decisive, coordinated interaction between climate experts and health workers to decide how best to respond to the variations in climate that in part drive the burden of disease in communities of developing countries.

The 2009 Summer Institute on Climate Information for Public Health (SI 09) was designed to engage professionals who play a key role in the operational decision-making for climate-sensitive diseases in identifying and evaluating appropriate use of climate information. The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) designed and implemented the second annual Summer Institute (SI), in partnership with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the Mailman School of Public Health (MSPH) at Columbia University. The IRI is a premier global research and capacity-building institution focused on the use of climate information in key areas of development. It is a collaborating centre with the World Health Organization–Pan-American Health Organization (WHO–PAHO) on climate-sensitive diseases. The IRI, CIESIN, and MSPH are partner institutions of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. Together these institutes combine extensive experience in en-
vironmental health, population mapping and modeling with climate prediction and the study of climate variability and change.

SI 09 was held at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Campus in Palisades, New York, between June 1st and June 12th, 2009. A panel discussion was held at the MSPH on June 3rd, 2009.