The Urban Heat Islands (UHI) effect is a microclimatic phenomenon that especially affects urban areas. It is associated with significant temperature increases in the local microclimate, and may amplify heat waves. Due to their intensity, UHI causes not only thermal discomfort, but also reductions in the levels of life quality. This paper reviews the important role of green infrastructure as a means through which the intensity of UHI may be reduced, along with their negative impact on human comfort and wellbeing. Apart from a comprehensive review of the available literature, the paper reports on an analysis of case studies in a set of 14 cities in 13 countries representing various geographical regions and climate zones. The results obtained suggest that whereas UHI is a common phenomenon, green infrastructure in urban areas may under some conditions ameliorate their impacts. In addition, the study revealed that the scope and impacts of UHI are not uniform: depending on peculiarities of urban morphologies, they pose different challenges linked to the microclimate peculiar to each city. The implications of this paper are threefold. Firstly, it reiterates the complex interrelations of UHIs, heat waves and climate change. Secondly, it outlines the fact that keeping and increasing urban green resources leads to additional various benefits that may directly or indirectly reduce the impacts of UHI. Finally, the paper reiterates the need for city planners to pay more attention to possible UHI effects when initiating new building projects or when adjusting current ones.

Climate change is known to affect Pacific Island nations in a variety of ways. One of them is by increasing the vulnerability of human health induced by various climate change impacts, which pose an additional burden to the already distressed health systems in the region. This paper explores the associations between climate change and human health on the one hand, and outlines some of the health care challenges posed by a changing climate on the other. In particular, it describes the links between climate variations and the emergence of climate-sensitive infectious diseases, such as the mosquito-borne diseases dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. The paper also presents a summary of the key findings of the research initiatives Climate Change and Prevalence Study of ZIKA Virus Diseases in Fiji and the findings from the World Mosquito Program as two examples of public health action in the Pacific region.

: Despite efforts by the WHO to support local surveillance strategies in developing countries, there is a lack of robust public health surveillance frameworks. As a result, early infectious disease outbreak detection and response remain a significant challenge for local health systems in low-resource settings such as sub-Saharan African countries. In contrast, the growing digital infrastructure, especially in the mobile phone sector, and the global availability of extensive digital data offer promising solutions to enhance and strengthen epidemiological surveillance. Yet, there is little insight into concepts of utilisation and transfer into local public health practice. Using Tanzania as an example, a novel electronic surveillance and early outbreak alert framework is being developed that links signals on emerging diseases with relevant contextual Open Data for rapid outbreak risk assessment. The concept focuses on haemorrhagic fever diseases, specifically dengue virus disease, which is increasingly spreading in sub-Saharan Africa. A data stack framework forms the core of the system, which augments electronic information on the occurrence of acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome, e.g., collected via mobile phone-based surveillance tools, with openly available socio-ecological context data specific to dengue. Preliminary results on the data and information flow within the surveillance framework are presented and strategies for an automated indicator-based risk assessment for dengue outbreaks will be discussed, supplemented by an agent-based simulation framework to model possible short-term outbreak scenarios. In addition, adequate data inputs, identified through an appraisal of various data sources available for Tanzania, are outlined. The framework could serve as a blueprint for designing locally implementable early warning and decision support systems integrated with existing digital surveillance infrastructure. Key messages: • Digital health surveillance and Open Data offer great potential for early outbreak detection and supporting health decisions but require tailored solutions to benefit low-resource settings. • Building on existing digital surveillance infrastructure, the framework may serve as a blueprint for designing an enhanced surveillance and decision support system for infectious disease outbreaks.