HABVIA: Heat adaptation benefits for vulnerable groups in Africa
Grantholders
Prof Guy Howard
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Prof Ama de-Graft Aikins
University of Ghana, Ghana
Prof Lara Dugas
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Prof Chris Gordon
University of Ghana, Ghana
Prof Mark New
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Dr Thandi Kapwata
South African Medical Research Council, South Africa
Project summary
Robust evaluation of the environmental, health and socio-economic outcomes of heat adaptations are limited for Africa, especially in real-world settings, despite high vulnerability to heat-related health risk. HABVIA aims to address these evidence gaps by gathering high-quality cohort data on physiological and mental health, alongside climate, environmental and socio-economic information, in four heat-vulnerable study sites in Ghana and South Africa where heat adaptations are underway or can easily be implemented because of pre-existing community-health research partnerships. The project will focus on physical and behavioural adaptation for two vulnerable groups, manual labourers and informal/low-income house dwellers, as well as the development and testing of adaptation-relevant heat warning systems. Capacity building of African health-climate researchers will be leveraged via two African research assistants who will enroll for PhDs, one UK PhD student, ideally from a developing country, three African post-doctoral researchers, development and delivery of heat-adaptation summer/winter training schools, and pro-active engagement in the growing Africa and global health-climate communities of practice. HABVIA's interdisciplinary team comprises leading researchers from climate risk and adaptation science, climate-health research, public health, international development and behavioural science, with collaborators from national meteorological agencies and humanitarian/development non-governmental organisations.