A meteorological tower has been installed at CSIR-IICT here to study the impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases like malaria, filariasis and dengue. The programme is coordinated by 4PI (Fourth paradigm Institute), formerly CMMACS, Bengaluru and CSIR-IICT will be one of the partners.

As part of the programme, a 30-foot-high specially-designed meteorological tower with three sensors, one each at a height of 10 feet, that gives data like maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed and other atmospheric conditions with high accuracy, to correlated with the disease spectrum has been installed on the IICT campus. Around 38 such towers have been established across the country under the programme in different geographical locations for various studies.

The tower will predict the important weather conditions within a range of about 15 km and help scientists predict the disease pattern, says head of IICT’s biology division USN Murthy. It has been proven that changes in the climatic patterns also affect the breeding patterns of parasites. The vector control programme evolved by IICT will help in detecting the link between the patterns of climatic change associated with that of the regular pattern of spread of vector-borne diseases, he said.

The programme will also help in evolving appropriate prevention mechanism to check the further spread of the diseases. This will also help the scientists to advise health authorities the measures to be taken for a particular kind of vector outbreak in advance, Murthy said.

The CSIR programme on climate change, Integrated Analysis for Impact, Mitigation and Sustainability (IAIMS), will develop, configure, calibrate and validate a regional climate modelling platform in which many CSIR laboratories will be involved with special objectives.

With potential for climate change and variability to exacerbate endemic malaria, dengue, yellow fever, cholera, and chikungunya in the country abundant, such initiative will help in controlling or at least minimising the damages being caused by these vector-borne diseases, Murthy said.

A report of the ministry of health and family welfare estimates that nearly 40 million people are affected by water-borne disease every year.