Developing Health-Related Indicators of Climate Change: Australian Stakeholder Perspectives.

Maryam Navi,Alana Hansen,Scott Hanson-Easey,Monika Nitschke,Dino Pisaniello

doi:10.3390/ijerph14050552

Abstract

Climate-related health indicators are potentially useful for tracking and predicting the adverse public health effects of climate change, identifying vulnerable populations, and monitoring interventions. However, there is a need to understand stakeholders’ perspectives on the identification, development, and utility of such indicators. A qualitative approach was used, comprising semi-structured interviews with key informants and service providers from government and non-government stakeholder organizations in South Australia. Stakeholders saw a need for indicators that could enable the monitoring of health impacts and time trends, vulnerability to climate change, and those which could also be used as communication tools. Four key criteria for utility were identified, namely robust and credible indicators, specificity, data availability, and being able to be spatially represented. The variability of risk factors in different regions, lack of resources, and data and methodological issues were identified as the main barriers to indicator development. This study demonstrates a high level of stakeholder awareness of the health impacts of climate change, and the need for indicators that can inform policy makers regarding interventions.

Highlights

The progression of climate change is notable in Australia, where the mean surface air temperatures, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification are projected to continue on an upward trajectory [1]
The study findings have shown the relevance of stakeholder engagement in the process of indicator development to assess their needs and the criteria that are required to ensure that the indicators are robust
The findings show that developing indicators for climate change is not a straightforward process

Summary

Introduction

The progression of climate change is notable in Australia, where the mean surface air temperatures, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification are projected to continue on an upward trajectory [1]. Substantial heat-related morbidity and mortality have been reported in association with extreme heatwaves [5,6,7,8,9,10], and air pollution events due to bushfires and dust storms have been associated with mortality and increased hospitalizations [11,12]. These events are predicted to increase with climate change [13,14,15]. A changing climate can affect the transmission of climate-sensitive mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever and Ross River virus disease [16,17,18], in addition to food-borne diseases such as salmonellosis [19,20,21]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion