Environmental Determinants of Tropical Disease (EDTD)

Vector borne diseases, such as Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases are assumed to be highly attributable to environmental factors, but evidence is weak. Panel data from HDSS (250 000 spatially registered individuals interviewed regularly over 10 years) can show spatio-temporal clusters of disease incidence. Clusters will be systematically analysed using time series of EO data at multiple resolutions to identify the caUnited Statesl web of environmental dynamics and disease burden. Selected clusters of high/low disease burden will be studied in detailed GT-based field research to elucidate livelihood practices (soil/water/land management, collection of water/firewood, livestock) that expose people to environmental health hazards. The significance is triple: 1) the remarkable increase in zoonotic diseases (e.g. Ebola and Zika) call for improved understanding of nature-human interaction; – the fusion of EO and HDSS is an untapped resource; 2) the high burden of disease in the Global South can potentially be reduced by changing ways in which people interact with the environment while harnessing socio-environmental co-benefits; 3) the risk of resistance to pharmaceutical approaches in fighting tropical diseases can be reduced.

Project details

Basic Science

Jan 2017 — Dec 2020

$399,795

Sweden