CYPHEW – CYPRUS PUBLIC HEALTH AND EXTREME WEATHER

   

Climate change and public health: Assessment of the effects of extreme weather and development of innovative prevention and mitigation strategies.

The main objective of the present project is to assess the association between climate-change-driven extreme weather and acute health effects, in terms of daily death rates and hospital admissions in the warm season in Cyprus, and then to develop a framework of innovative prevention and mitigation strategies to reduce the public health impact of thermal stress. Such a framework includes the development of a heat-health-watch warning system HHWWS to predict the potentially dangerous extreme weather conditions and therefore to contribute to the protection of public health and the improvement of quality of life in major urban areas. Special emphasis will be put on the protection of the most vulnerable groups of population, such as the sick, the elderly, the pregnant women and the children, who have diminished physiological capacity for thermoregulation. Furthermore, by creating a full database of atmospheric parameters and health indicators recorded on a daily basis, the project, apart from improving the relevant health services in Cyprus, also aims to build the necessary infrastructure for the implementation of well-established European HHWWS and the harmonisation with relevant EU guidelines and directives. Moreover, the proposed HHWWS could act as rapid decision-making systems for intervention and protection of public health in an effective and efficient manner. Finally, the project serves the development of a European network of researchers for the exchange of expertise in the crucial field of climatic change and human health.

Contact us

Dr Edna Yamasaki, MD, PhD

Department of Life and Health Sciences

School of Sciences

cceia of Nicosia

47 Makedonitissas Ave

1700 – Nicosia – Cyprus

email: [email protected]

tel: 357-22 842743

 

 

  To Έργο συγχρηματοδοτείται  από τη Δέσμη Προγραμμάτων για Έρευνα, Τεχνολογική Ανάπτυξη και Καινοτομία 2009-2010, του Ιδρύματος Προώθησης Έρευνας (ΔΕΣΜΗ 2009-2010) και από την Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία και το Ευρωπαϊκό Ταμείο Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης (ΕΤΠΑ).