2012 Reports

The Use of Climate Information in Impact Assessment for Malaria Interventions: Workshop Report

Getinet, Yohannes; Miheretie, Abere; Thomson, Madeleine C.

Since the inception of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) initiative, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by national governments, NGOs and the international donor community to reduce the burden of malaria in Africa. Subsequent to intervention efforts, a substantial decline in malaria cases have been observed in around the world; however, the attribution of such decline to interventions alone in some areas has been questioned, and there is increasing concern that climate variability and change may be confounding the assessment of the impact of interventions designed to achieve the malaria Millennium Development Goal targets. In particular, the recent extended drought period in Eastern Africa may have contributed to malaria's decline. The recent workshop, "Climate and Health in Africa -- 10 Years On" (Addis Ababa, April 4-6. 2011), provided a detailed list of recommendations for improving the management of climate sensitive health outcomes through the better provision of climate services, as well as through building capacity in the health community to use climate information in routine decision-making. Building on the outcomes of a recent project funded by Google.org, "Building Capacity to Produce and Use Climate and Environmental Information for Improving Health in East Africa," this workshop (Addis Ababa, December 12-14, 2011) sought to establish data and methods whereby the confounding effect of climate variability on malaria impact assessment could be removed.