Addressing Extreme Weather Related Diarrheal Disease Risks in the Asia Pacific Region

Globally, diarrheal diseases are the second leading cause of death among children younger than 5 years of age, accounting for 1 in 9 child deaths. Early warnings system with seasonal to sub-seasonal (S2S) lead time is needed to reduce burden of diarrheal diseases associated with extreme weather events, and enhance community resilience against the threats of climate change. In the absence of community specific public health adaptation strategies, such extreme weather events can wreak havoc as exemplified by currently unfolding tragedy in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India that has already claimed over 300. The additional morbidity and mortality from diarrheal diseases that will likely follow this ongoing tragedy will not be known for the next several months. This underscores the urgent need for an effective early warning system to minimize the health impacts associated with extreme weather events that are projected to increase in frequency, intensity and duration. To that end, investigators from Sweden and the United States will partner with scientists from the Asia Pacific Region (Chinese Taipei, India, China, Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia; referred to as the focus area) to establish a multinational consortium of scientists that will perform a comparative analysis of diarrheal disease risk associated with extreme weather events. Our consortium will develop a transferable solution - S2S early warnings for diarrheal disease - that will be implemented across the focus area to reduce extreme weather-related diarrheal disease burdens and improve community resilience to climate change. We are focusing on an early warning system with an S2S lead time because our public health stakeholders from the focus area have made it clear that currently available weather or climate based early warning are not adequate. Our focus areas includes countries within the Asia-Pacific Region because this region accounts for the highest burden of diarrheal disease morbidity globally and includes countries that are considered to be among the most vulnerable to the threats of climate change.