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Climate change and health resource website providing Bangladesh-specific data

On 28 February 2023, the USAID funded Research for Decision Makers (RDM) activity, icddr,b and Data for  Impact (D4I) organized a special session with health journalists, giving them a hands-on tour to  the web-based platform https://cch.icddrb.org/ which provides a comprehensive resource for  understanding the effects of climate change on health. This website serves as a one-stop  resource for the latest data, research, and information on this important and rapidly evolving  topic. 

Dr. Peter Kim Streatfield, Emeritus Scientist at icddr,b and the project lead, started the session  with a presentation on how climate change is affecting human as well as global health. He also  stressed on the data scarcity issue and how its hard to find good realiable and real time data on  climate change in Bangladesh. Followed by Dr. Streatfield’s talk, Mr. Tanvir Ahmad, Research  Officer, HSPSD, icddr,b 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. This site is developed with support from USAID’s Research for Decision Makers  (RDM) initiative.  
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 disucss on the importance of this website and how to  make it more resorucesful in future. Mr. Rashed Rabbi, President, Bangladesh Health Reporters  Forum thanked icddr,b team for developing such a website as a resource hub, which policy makers could utilize as a planning and decision making tool.  
The session ended with the notion that, though the site was developed under a project, icddr,b  will keep this website live and update it on regular basis. 
 
The session presentation was presented by Dr. Peter Kim Streatfield, Emeritus Scientist, icddr,b; and Mr Tanvir Ahmad, HSPSD, icddr,b. The event was graced by representative from  USAID/BD. Among others Dr. Shams El Arifeen, Senior Director (MCHD), icddrb; Dr. Mizanur  Rahman, Country Lead of Data for Impact; Shusmita Khan, Knowledge Management and  Communications Specialist of Data for Impact; also attended the event.  
The event was jointly organised by icddr,b and Data for Impact (D4I), a data driven initiative of  the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and was supported by the United States Agency  for International Development (USAID).  

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