Strengthening Health through Integrated Environmental and cLimate Data (SHIELD) Project

To address the need for streamlined climate and health data, PATH and national partners are partnering through the Strengthening Health through Integrated Environmental and cLimate Data (SHIELD) Project, funded by Wellcome.

Together, we are developing climate and health data services—these are systems that collect, combine, and present climate, environmental, and health data to support decision-makers with the information they need to respond to climate-related health risks. The service provides information—the people (i.e., the climate and health data service users) make the decisions.

SHIELD is developing ministry-hosted platforms that bring together climate, health, environmental, demographic, and socioeconomic data to provide timely and relevant access to information needed to support decision-making for the protection and improvement of public health.

These platforms will be designed in close collaboration with national institutions to ensure they are practical, sustainable, and aligned with country priorities.

PATH and its partners will support Malawi and Pakistan in becoming exemplar models of countries with locally hosted climate-health data services that harmonize existing climate data sources with health data sources over different spatial and temporal scales to facilitate analytical work that can identify risks, monitor trends, and guide responses to climate-sensitive health outcomes. This work will take place over three years and focus on the following areas:

This project is grounded in a partnership-led, country-owned approach. This work builds on strong national leadership and the expertise of local institutions. In each country, we are engaging government ministries, including health, climate, environment, and meteorology, who will guide and shape the work at each stage. We are also engaging local partners and academic institutions to lead local research and ensure the system design reflects real-world needs. Global experts will provide technical guidance on integrating and applying localized climate data.

Specifically, we have partnered with the following institutions:

SEI Africa

SEI Africa brings world-leading expertise in climate data localization, modeling, and capacity development, building on its leadership in implementing the ENACTS (Enhancing National Climate Services) framework across Africa. As part of this project, they will lead the generation and integration of blended high-resolution climate datasets for Pakistan and Malawi and lead the capacity development of local academic institutions and technical partners to generate and use climate data.

World Health Organization – World Meteorological Organization (WHO-WMO) Joint Office

The WHO-WMO Joint Office’s mission is to advance the integration of climate and health data and services, enabling countries to make informed, climate-smart health decisions and build resilient health systems. As part of this project, their experts will map the climate and health data landscape in Malawi and Pakistan to ensure international standards and local relevance are integrated throughout and support capacity-building and operationalization of climate-health solutions in Malawi and Pakistan.

Aga Khan University (AKU)

Aga Khan University is a global leader in advancing public health and education, with a unique focus on the intersection of climate change and health. As part of this project, they will guide applied research and analysis for Pakistan's prioritized climate-health use case and co-lead data ecosystem mapping and user needs research. They will also ​provide scientific and technical support to national and provincial regulatory bodies, integrating health into climate adaptation strategies and supporting resilient health systems.​

Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS)

MUBAS is a public institution with deep technical capacity in climate and health-related research, modeling, and digital innovation. Its Department of Public and Environmental Health Sciences leads national efforts on climate vulnerability assessments and toolkit development to support climate-informed health planning. As part of this project, MUBAS will lead applied research on Malawi’s prioritized climate-health use case, conducting integrated climate-health analyses and contributing to policy-relevant publications and toolkit development.​ In addition, they will support capacity-building and training for government and academic partners, helping to ensure long-term sustainability of climate and health data services in Malawi.​

Top photo: Women and girls walk in the inundated region of Geokaloi village in the Southern Pakistani province of Sindh. Between June and October 2022, devastating floods occurred in this region. © UNICEF/UNI431676/Sokhin