Instruments for Health Adaptation in Latin America: a Tale of Two Methods

Abstract

Introduction: The high vulnerability to climate change impacts in health in Latin America calls for the development of tools for health adaptation. In this context, a multi-country project to develop and implement methods to measure vulnerability and for monitoring adaptation intervention was designed in five countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay). Methods: Scientific teams from each of the countries met initially to agree on the general objectives, possible approaches, concepts and definitions, and a time frame of the project. It was agreed that each team would work independently from one another in order to respond to countries needs and specificities. Requirements included the need to be based on quantitative methods and based on existing information and data sources. Periodical meetings were held with countries´ decision makers in order to ensure political agreement, commitment and application of results. Each time defined the different models of vulnerability with the aim to develop indicators or an overall vulnerability index. Climate change scenarios were applied for the indicators and indexes. Results: At the end of the three year study two main approaches emerged: one general index spatially based by municipality or equivalent levels of aggregation where developed in Brazil and Paraguay. The other three countries developed a similar spatially based approach but specific for climate sensitive diseases (dengue in Mexico, dengue, malaria and Chagas in Bolivia and dengue and malaria in Colombia). Vulnerability maps were constructed at different levels of aggregation and for different climate change scenarios. Conclusions and Recommendations: Policy makers can use these tools in order to better understand health vulnerabilities and therefore better implement and monitor adaptation interventions. Both methods have their merits and can be applied in different situations as needed.