SG-03

PROJECT INFORMATION

Climate change and health impacts: On the use of satellite data to assess the relationship between climatic factors, water quality and infectious diseases in Chile

Principal investigator (PI):

Rayana Palharini , MICROB-R, Universidad Técnica Metropolitana

E-mail: ayana.palharini@utem.cl

Phone: +56 9 9510 6475

Duration & funding:

(November 2023–2024) USD 15,000

Co-funding offered:

USD 6,000

Participating countries: 

Chile

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In recent years, climate change has affected millions of people around the globe and caused a significant burden on health systems and society. Climate change and the emergence of new epidemics are expected to impose an enormous global burden in the next decades. Health systems in developing countries have the least capabilities for early detection and effective control of infectious disease outbreaks. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between the years 2030-2050 climate change-associated diseases will cause some 250,000 additional deaths per year, and diarrheal diseases are expected to be among the leading causes. About 58% of developing countries are affected by waterborne diseases associated with unsafe water supply, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. Climate change will probably facilitate the contamination of water and the presence of pathogens through more frequent extreme events (e.g., heat, agricultural and industrial runoff from extreme precipitation events, and landslides). In recent years, the Chilean population has been seriously affected by pathogens present in contaminated water and food that cause diarrheal diseases such as Escherichia coli, Shigellosis, and Salmonellosis, among others. Among these, Salmonellosis is the most common in Chile, where 16,932 cases were reported from 2014 to 2021 (ISP 2022).  In this scenario, our proposal aims to understand the influence of extreme climatic events  (temperature and rainfall) on the quality of water in rivers and the occurrence of Salmonella outbreaks in the Metropolitan Region in Chile. We will combine various data sources, including satellite data (optical images), climatic observations, longitudinal water samples (2018-2021), and mathematical modelling. These datasets will allow us to estimate the risk of water pollution at a very low cost using readily available satellite images and hopefully extrapolate our findings to other freshwater systems.  Our long-term agenda is to extend the analysis to other water-related illnesses and bodies of water (e.g., ponds, lakes, oceans) in Chile and in other countries of Latin America.