PROJECT #2002-13
Climate Variability and Change and Human Health in the Pacific
Islands: The Cook Islands and Fiji-Phase III Dissemination Meeting
| Project Leader |
Dr. M. P. HAMNETT
Director
Social Science Research Institute
Saunders Hall, Suite 704
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
USA
Tel: +1-808-956-7469
Fax: +1-808-956-2884
Email: hamnett@hawaii.edu
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| Funding |
US$ 22,000
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| Participating countries |
Participants from the following countries were funded: Cook Islands,
Fiji, and USA.
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Brief introduction and background
This project consists of three phases. Phase I was a scoping
meeting held in Fiji, in July 2001 funded by APN (APN 2001-02). Phase
II is a larger assessment activity, funded by NOAA/Office of Global Programs.
Phase III is a dissemination workshop for which the current APN grant will
be used. The goals of the project are to develop the following:
- A better understanding of the relationship between local level climate
variability;
- Refine a set of analytical techniques for assessing the impact of
seasonal to inter-annual climate variability on important diseases in the
Pacific Islands region;
- Demonstrate how these techniques can be used to allow climate forecasts
to be used to reduce the risk of these diseases; and
- Provide an understanding of the impact of seasonal to inter-annual
climate variability that can be applied to the impact of longer-term climate
change to the Pacific Islands and other parts of the world.
Outline of activities conducted
Funding from the Office of Global Programs for the research phase was
originally promised for August 2001, the anticipated start of Phase II.
Funding was not actually approved until May 2002 and funds were only available
in November 2002. This delayed the compilation of data and the loss
of the post-doc originally hired to do the statistical analysis.
Funds were advanced by the East-West Center for student assistants in the
Cook Islands and Fiji and data compilation commenced July 2002. A
student assistant was hired in Honolulu in September 2002 and some graphical
analysis was done. A search is now underway for a graduate assistant
to assist a senior UH faculty member who has volunteered his services with
the statistical analysis.
Outcomes and products
Insufficient health data for the Cook Islands was available to conduct
even a rudimentary analysis. Very rich climate and health data sets
are available for 15 areas of Fiji. Graphical analysis showed some
patterns for several diseases in relation to both monthly rainfall and
mean maximum monthly temperature but was insufficient to draw any conclusions.
Students in the Cook Islands and at the Fiji School of Medicine have
gained good practical experience at compiling health and climate data.
Data gathering in the Cook Islands proved very frustrating because of the
lack of complete data sets from any island, although the project team was
assured that the data were available and just needed to be compiled.
The project leaders have met with team members in Fiji in conjunction
with other travel and adjustments have been made in the original project
schedule.
Future directions and follow-up work
The statistical analysis must be completed by May. The date of the
dissemination workshop has now been tentatively scheduled for June, 2003.
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