An expert with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has asked health authorities to use weather information to fight malaria, a disease highly associated with climate change.
Malaria is caused by protozoan parasites that are transmitted by the bites of mosquitoes
Ms Hellen Kootval made the call in Dar es Salaam during a Training Workshop and Stakeholders’ Meeting on the Use of Climate Information in Malaria Stratification, Early Warning Systems and Impact Assessment for Malaria Interventions.
“Despite large-scale investments in prevention and control, opportunities to improve disease stratification and risk maps, early warning systems and impact assessments can still be further aided by leveraging climate and environmental information,” she said.
Opening the workshop, the Principal Environmental Management Officer from the National Environment Management Council (NEMC), Mr James Ngeleja, said an early warning system on climate impacts was vital to enable health authorities respond timely to epidemics.
Mr Ngeleja noted that climate- based epidemic warning systems would help reduce the impacts. He also called on good long-term malaria and climate data for better prediction of the disease.
He stressed the need of extra effort in understanding the expected changes and suitable adaption and mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of climate change on malaria.
The Acting Director General of the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA), Mr Ibrahim Nassib, called on health authorities to collaborate with sectors affiliated with weather to gather information that will assist in mitigating and planning strategies against the disease.
“Health organisations must be very much aware of the nature and timing of the rainy season. This could be possible with the availability and proper use of weather information,” he said.
The workshop was organised by TMA in collaboration with WMO, the International Research Institute (IRI), NASA and HCF. It was attended by experts from the Ministry of Health, National Malaria Programme and the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR).
By ANNE ROBI, Tanzania Daily News
