Between 2025 and 2027, the Vontobel Foundation is providing support to the project “Climate Change & Health: Opportunities to Strengthen Resilience in Switzerland and the Global South” being carried out by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. Its goal is to gain insights into how health and well-being can be promoted in the face of climate change.
The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) is an institute recognized worldwide for its work the field of global health, with a special focus on issues in low- and middle-income countries. Affiliated with the University of Basel, Swiss TPH combines research, education, and services on local, national, and international levels. Around 900 people from eighty different countries are employed at Swiss TPH, working in fields such as infectious and non-communicable diseases, environment, society and health, as well as on health systems and programs.
The project “Climate Change & Health: Opportunities to Strengthen Resilience in Switzerland and the Global South” was launched by Swiss TPH in collaboration with the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire.
The overarching goal of this three-year program is to strengthen the resilience of urban and rural populations in both Switzerland and Côte d'Ivoire to the health impacts of climate change, both direct and indirect. It will initially focus on two key climate-related health threats: the acute health effects of high ambient temperatures and the increased risk of the emergence of communicable diseases.
The study aims to generate new insights into the current health impacts of climate change and to identify the populations that are most vulnerable to them. Based on these findings, targeted and evidence-based tools for the prevention and treatment of diseases, as well as adaptation to climate change, will be developed in collaboration with various health centers, policymakers, and civil society entities.
By implementing activities in both Switzerland and Côte d'Ivoire, the project will maximize impact, fostering mutual learning about how to promote health and well-being in the context of this global challenge.
