Anticipatory Action for climate-sensitive infectious diseases: East Africa Regional Assessment

The East African region, comprising Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, is home to approximately 370 million people, with some countries facing significant poverty and vulnerability to climate change. The region faces various humanitarian challenges compounded by the impacts of climate change, poverty, conflict, and political instability. Extreme weather events, including droughts, floods, heatwaves, and tropical cyclones, are occurring with increased frequency and intensity, resulting in acute food insecurity and compromised water security for millions of people. Infectious diseases, such as cholera, dengue, malaria, measles, meningitis, Rift Valley fever, schistosomiasis, and yellow fever, pose significant health threats, particularly as they are highly sensitive to climatic conditions. Anticipatory Action is emerging as a crucial approach to preventing epidemics of climate-sensitive infectious diseases, offering the potential to implement preventive measures earlier and more effectively reduce disease transmission. This regional assessment identifies malaria, dengue, and cholera as priority diseases, emphasizing the need for prioritized Anticipatory Action for these diseases. Despite existing Early Action Protocols (EAPs) and simplified EAPs (sEAPs) for floods or droughts, there are currently no operational EAPs for climate-sensitive infectious diseases in East Africa. This is partly related to a lack of systematic digital disease data collection, sectoral silos, insufficient coordination between health and disaster management agencies, and limited access to public health services, particularly in conflict-affected regions. The assessment suggests focusing on the development of specific sEAPs for cholera, malaria, and dengue in Ethiopia and Kenya within the next 1–3 years, leveraging these countries’ robust infrastructure, strong health ministries, and sufficient climate and disease data. Partnerships with research institutions and academics, both local and ...