Second National Communications In recent meetings with the Department of Health, the following were recommended as adaptation strategy clusters: Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Climate Change and Health Development Policy and Systems Development Program/Systems Integration Financing CC Partnerships Building It will be good to consider the following major directions and activities in consideration of the clusters identified. Ø A national and local assessment on the determination of climate change and health vulnerabilities and impacts. It will identify needs; prioritization should proceed Ø Identification of the current distribution and burden of climate-sensitive health determinants and outcomes Ø Ensure policy cover formulation for governance-plans and activities to proceed (include climate change and health financing and regulation). This will define short term benefits and long term goals Ø Capacity building – health personnel equipping and equipment acquisition for adaptation; for soft and hard technologies Ø Enhance the initiated Integrated disease surveillance systems (PIDSR) – with emphasis on climate sensitive diseases Ø Establish cross sector and office (line agency) activities and coordinative mechanisms (forestry, water, energy, agriculture) for integrated adaptation responses Ø Encourage private-public sector response to hasten program implementation 5.0 Correlation studies As part of the vulnerability assessment matrix frame, what we did for the three pilot sites was a correlation study based on a time-series, historical and predictive modeling of diseases and climate/weather parameters. WHO has suggested that this is one of the research methods that can highlight climate and infectious disease transmission.37 number 12 December 2006. Available from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17185287 37 Available from http://www.who.int/globalchange/climate/summary/en/index5.htm 28