The Experience of the Brazilian Climate and Health Observatory: Seeking Interaction Between Organizations and Civil Society

This chapter assesses the availability and usefulness of environmental, climate, population and health data in Brazil, with the aim of enabling the construction of indicators for monitoring the health-related effects of environmental and climate changes. This task was performed by means of thematic workshops held between 2009 and 2011, aiming to define the data to be made available, the data sources to be used and the integration strategies. Sentinel sites were highlighted, where some local problems relating to possible impacts of environmental and climate change were being studied. These workshops involved the participation of potential data users and producers, such as civil society members, governmental institutions and researchers. The local studies showed close correlations between climate variables and the incidence of vector-borne diseases, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases associated with exposure to smoke generated by fires, and waterborne diseases. The indicators selected provided support for academic studies and the development of technological innovations in the fields of climate and health. An integrative platform was built in order to disseminate health and climate information , original data, environmental and epidemiological indicators, news and technical publications. The Website also made it possible for these changes to be followed and debated within civil society.