Climate change and health in Latin America and the Caribbean: What the evidence can tell us

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are among the regions most affected by climate change. However, little evidence exists on its potential effects on individuals´ health. To fill this gap, this research aims to define the region’s most critical developments in the study of economic costs of climate-sensitive infectious diseases and advances in the design, implementation, and evaluation of information systems. We conducted two scoping reviews. The first aimed to assess the existing evidence on the economic impacts of climate-sensitive diseases and the cost and benefits of strategies to mitigate them. The second focused on exploring the design, implementation, and evaluation of information systems on health and climate. In addition, we conducted more than 20 semi-structured interviews with experts in climate change, information systems, economic analysis, and infectious diseases in LAC. The results revealed a lack of evidence in the study of the economic impacts of strategies related to climate-sensitive infectious diseases in the region; only one article about this topic was identified. Additionally, ten articles were obtained, analysing the economic costs of climate-sensitive infectious diseases while considering the impacts of climate. Studies do not include climate information or analyse how climate change can increase the prevalence of infectious diseases in the region. Although more than 300 articles were identified on topics related to modelling, monitoring or analysis of climate-sensitive infectious diseases, there is limited evidence on how to design and implement information systems using health and climate variables The expert consultation revealed the need to enhance communication across fields to facilitate collaborative work and address pertinent research questions regarding the relationship between climate and health. There is a need to improve information systems, to enable the interaction of data from different sources and guarantee its quality, as well as to align governments and researcher´s priorities on climate and health.