Epidemiological research contributions to local policies of air quality management in the region of Aburra Valley in Colombia.

Abstract

Area Metropolitana del Valle de Aburra- AMVA, environmental authority of ten municipalities in Colombia, has developed the Integrated Management Plan for Air Quality 2017-2030, whose thematic axis 1 proposes strategies such as the design and implementation of an Environmental Health Surveillance System, based on the strengthening of scientific bases and the development of a scientific research agenda. Since 2016, a collaborative process has been set up between AMVA and the public health academic sector in the región. In the first phase (2016-2017), a research of acute events associated to short-term exposure to air pollutants (daily increases of 10 µg/m3 of PM10, PM2.5 and O3) in vulnerable population (under 5 years of age and older adults 65 years old) for each municipality between 2008 and 2015 was developed. This research achieved important methodological developments, such as: 1) the processes of imputation of data of air pollutants not available and the assembly of unique series by municipality; 2) The identification of cases of sentinel events from health care records using data mining techniques and learn machine for traceability of records, 3) the construction of relational databases for big data analysis, 4 ) the automation of decision-making trees for the construction of explanatory GAM-type models, and 5) the analysis of critical contamination episodes. In its second phase (2017-2018) A prototype of a computational tool was designed in which methodological developments were integrated into data management and analysis. In the third phase (2018-2019), knowledge management processes were developed and epidemiological analyzes for Environmental Health Surveillance were perfected, as well as a web platform - SIVISA was created in order that community actors and decision makers can learn about the phenomenon, manage knowledge, design actions and follow local plans and policies.