icddr,b launches new climate change website

On 13 February 2023, the Initiative for Climate Change and Health of icddr,b launched a highly anticipated climate change and health related web-based platform https://cch.icddrb.org/ with support from USAID’s Research for Decision Makers (RDM) activity. The website provides a comprehensive resource for understanding the effects of climate change on health and serves as a one-stop resource for the latest data, research, and information on this important and rapidly evolving topic. The event was held at icddr,b’s Sasakawa Seminar Room in Mohakhali, Dhaka. 

Dr Shams El Arifeen, Senior Director, Maternal and Child Health Division of icddr,b, welcomed the guests and emphasised the importance, saying, “Climate change is one of the most pressing global health challenges of our time, and it is crucial that we have access to accurate and up-to-date information to better understand its impacts on health. This new website is an important step in that direction.”

Dr Peter Kim Streatfield, Emeritus Scientist at icddr,b and the project lead, and Mr Atik Ahsan, Senior Program Manager, demonstrated the website’s features and functionality, showcasing its ability to provide real-time information on climate change and its impacts on health, including temperature, humidity, and air quality data updated hourly through an external Air Quality Device based in Mohakhali.

The website provides a plethora of information and tools regarding the effects of climate change on health in Bangladesh, including data on vector-borne diseases, heat waves and heat stress, air pollution, and food security, among others. In addition, it provides information on climatic disasters, such as cyclones, floods, and droughts, as well as local and global climate change-related factors, such as sea level rise, salinity intrusion, sea surface temperature, atmospheric CO2 and global warming, greenhouse gas emission, El-Nino/La-Nina, Indian Ocean Dipole, etc.

Followed by Dr Streatfield’s presentation and launching of the website, a very engaging discussion session took place, where climate change and health experts, scientists, researchers, and program implementers took part to discuss the importance of this website and how to make it more resourceful in the future. Dr Iqbal Kabir, Coordinator of the Climate Change and Health Promotion Unit (CCHPU) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), thanked icddr,b research team for developing such a website as a knowledge and resource hub, which policy-makers could utilise as a planning and decision-making tool. He further expressed his interest in collaborating with the initiative. 

In the concluding session, Ms Miranda Beckman, Deputy Director of the Office of Population Health, and Nutrition of USAID, said, “The website will help the researchers to get the necessary information. This website will also raise awareness about the health issues of climate change” and added that,  “USAID emphasised to continue more researches to find out new dimensions and attributing factors of climate change and health.” 

Dr Manzoor Ahmed Hanifi, Acting Senior Director of the Health and Population Services Division, and Dr Quamrun Nahar, Head of Research, Maternal and Child Health Division of icddr,b also spoke at the event. Representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Government of Bangladesh, USAID, icddr,b and other development partners also attended the event.