New Consortium to Understand and Mitigate Public Health Threats that Emerge from aAccelerating Environmental Change in Africa

Human impacts on the environment—such as shifts in land-use and changes to food systems—can produce public health threats. Think of air pollution and infectious disease. Yet, the processes driving these threats are often poorly understood, which makes it difficult for companies, governments, and institutions to forecast and mitigate health crises. Yale University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Institute of Primate Research and other international partners are launching a new US-Africa consortium to better understand the science that underlies these threats and to provide stakeholders with new epidemiological and financial tools to forecast and mitigate their impacts on people’s health. About 40 US-, Africa- and Europe-based scientists, practitioners and donors will gather for a workshop to frame, prioritize and map challenges and opportunities, and develop a ten-year, fully costed knowledge-to-action roadmap in preparation for a significant external funding request.