Developing early warning public health information systems for climate change

It is important to enhance the capacity of nations to detect the early health impacts of climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion. This can be achieved only by supporting monitoring, research and assessment activities.

Within the foreseeable future, certain types of early health effects are likely to become detectable by means of epidemiological studies. Examples include: (1) changes in the geographic range or seasonality of particular infectious diseases; (2) time trends in health outcomes related to thermal extremes; and (3) increases in some types of skin cancer and infectious diseases commensurate with latitude-specific changes in ambient ultraviolet radiation exposure.