Prioritizing climate-sensitive infectious diseases under a changing climate in Ghana: a multicriteria evaluation analysis approach

Globally, climate change is impacting the incidence and distribution of climate-sensitive infectious diseases (CSIDs). The effects of climate change on infectious diseases are an important public health concern and necessitate effective prioritizing of resources for optimal responses, especially for the developing economies context where basic health services and capacities are challenged. To develop a coherent response to the potential incidence of climate-related outbreaks, and to longer-term altering disease patterns, there is the need for improved information upon which to base the mainstreaming of climate change into health planning. An essential way through which such information can be generated is prioritizing disease risks vis-a-vis public health threats under climate change. Using Ghana as a case study, a multicriteria evaluation approach was used to assess CSIDs that present the greatest risks and threats to public health under climate change based on a set of disease prioritization criteria. Expert opinion, morbidity data on CSIDs, and data from literature were utilized to undertake the disease prioritization. From the assessment, it emerged that epidemic-prone CSIDs (diarrhea, cholera, and meningitis) pose the greatest risks to public health. This prioritization provides a glimpse of the risks and threats that prevailing CSIDs would pose to public health under climate change. Further, it provides a preliminary model that can guide public health decisions in Ghana and other similar contexts in the developing world.