摘要：Many infectious and chronic diseases are either directly or indirectly
sensitive to the climate. Managing this climate sensitivity more effectively
requires new working relationships between the health sector and the
providers of climate data and information. In Africa, where communities are
particularly vulnerable, Ministries of Health and National Meteorological
Services need to collaborate to reduce the burden of climate-related ill
health.
The Ministry of Health and the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia
have made significant progress towards the development of a climate-informed
early warning and response system for diseases such as malaria and other
climate-sensitive diseases. An important enabling mechanism is a Climate and
Health Working Group, which is a multi-sectoral partnership created to
spearhead the use of climate information for health interventions. While
this is a work in progress, the key ingredients necessary to sustain such a
joint venture are described to encourage similar activities in other
countries faced with a growing climate-sensitive disease burden, to
facilitate networking and to increase the return from the investment.
