ICS Estudos e Relatórios Nº1 / 2019

ICS E S T U D O S e R E L A T Ó R I O S 2019 Dr. Baltazar Nunes, Instituto Nacional de Saúde (National Institute of Health, Portugal) To develop an adequate environmental health protection policy and to meet the sustainable development objectives, we point out the need to: ● Develop new observation and surveillance systems and to maintain or expand existing ones; ● Regularly evaluate the functionality and adjustment of current surveillance systems; ● Evaluate these systems efficacy and impact on urban population health integrated into the adaptive management cycle; ● Deepen the complex adaptive approach to urban environment effects on health. Dr. André Oliveira, Ce3C-CCIAM - Climate Change Research group – Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon This Expert Meeting contributed to reinforce a shared consensus on the need for adopting a systems approach to manage urban health under climate change, but also on the difficulties, both technical and political, of putting it in practice. A widely acknowledged issue amongst the participants was the communication problem of "passing the message" on the advantages of this approach, from scientists and technicians to both policymakers and a wider audience. There are also issues to sort regarding the technical part of this approach. Such an implementation should integrate a robust public health surveillance component, strengthened by the application of risk models for major threats to the urban population, in a climate change context. These threats and their essential risk assessment rationale, have already been identified by several accredited international institutions, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This strategy aims to guarantee that any initiatives are correctly prioritized, not only immediate actions in terms of public health, but also medium and long-term interventions. With a focus on adapting the urban tissue (both private and public spaces) to deal more effectively with the challenges of climate change, this strategy thus significantly improves the health and well-being of the resident population and visitors. A practical example is to make the population of European cities (particularly in southern Europe) more