SA launches first climate and health surveillance platform

South Africa has launched its first national climate and health surveillance platform, a pioneering research and decision-support tool designed to strengthen the country’s ability to understand and respond to the growing health impacts ofclimate change. The platform, available through theClimate Health Surveillance South Africa website, was conceptualised and developed by Professor Caradee Wright, with support from theSouth African Medical Research Council(SAMRC) and the University of Pretoria. The launch comes as South Africa increasingly experiences the health effects of climate-related environmental conditions, fromextreme heatandworsening air pollutiontoflooding, drought andclimate-sensitive diseases.

In recent years,research Wright and colleagues ledhas highlighted how prolonged heat exposure places outdoor workers, children, older people and low-income communities at increased risk of dehydration,heat stress, respiratory illness and other adverse health outcomes. The risks are expected to intensify as temperatures continue to rise. Against this backdrop, the platform was developed to help researchers, policymakers, public health practitioners and other stakeholders better visualise and interpret climate, environmental and health data in a single system.

“The most important reason for producing this platform is to visualise our data,” Wright, the chief specialist scientist at the SAMRC, said. “It’s to show South Africa, Africa and the world that we have data, we have good data and we can look at our data. I’m really trying to encourage the sharing of data for visualisation so we can look at it and tell stories, find stories and show the use of investing money in collecting data.” She said the platform was also intended to demonstrate the value of the country’s health information systems and encourage broader data sharing.

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“For example, it would be wonderful if district health information system data could be electronic at the levels that we need it and available on a daily timescale, which we don’t yet have.” According to information on the platform, users can explore a range of climate, environmental and health indicators through maps, graphs and other visualisation tools. The platform brings together health and environmental datasets to support surveillance, research and evidence-based decision-making around climate-related health risks. One of the first patterns emerging from the platform shows a clear link between extreme weather and health outcomes, which is what scientists would expect.

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