Climate Change Health Impacts: The Need for Watershed and Ecohealth Approaches Base for Health Adaptation Strategies and Policies

Abstract

Climate change is modifying regional and local seasonal patterns of rainfall, temperatures, climate variability and extreme events. It is producing reduction in availability and quality of water for the most vulnerable population. Understanding the water problem constitutes a call for collective adoption of measures, through the integrated management of water resources. The health sector isolated action is insufficient to respond to this challenge. In this sense, we developed a comprehensive evaluation of health vulnerability and proposals for adaptation measures. Objective Provide evidences on climate change and sanitary impacts, which allows reducing the health vulnerability in the Palca watershed, as basis to design adaptation strategies and policies. Methodology Mixed research (qualitative-quantitative) descriptive, retrospective and correlational, not experimental; the climate, ecosystem, environmental, water, food and health security components followed specific methodologies to determine the direct and indirect effects of climate change on health. These components were evaluated to respond to prioritized index diseases, in the context of inter and transdisciplinary vulnerability Ecohealth assessment. Results The analysis of current and historical climate, presents warmer summers and less cold and drier winters, with significant increases in temperatures, which are warmer than the last 25 years. The rate of warming is increasing between 0.32 and 0.34 °C per decade. Melting local tropical glaciers, environmental mining pollution, head watershed and ecosystems deterioration evidences, was identified. The Sanitary Vulnerability to Climate Change is high for Acute Diarrheal Diseases (VCCADD), in upper, middle and lower part of watershed, related to water quality, which complies with physical–chemical parameters, but presents high levels of total coliforms and Eschericha coli. Based on results, an Intervention Proposal has been prepared, as a basis to design adaptation policies and strategies.