"Developing solutions using data science to mitigate the health impacts of climate change in Africa" is the objective of the African Transdisciplinary Center on Heat and Health in Africa through the HE2AT project. The launch of this project is held from Tuesday 24 to Thursday May 2022 in Abidjan at the Hotel Laforge in Cocody.

The University Péléforo Gon Coulibaly of Korhogo (UPGC) and the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire (CSRS) are the two Ivorian institutions chosen to lead the research in this important project initiated by a consortium of partners in the United States and Africa and is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA).

"The objectives of the project are to improve understanding of the complex interactions between heat and health in African cities, taking into account the spatial and demographic dimensions, and to contribute to a major advance towards the development of interventions, including Early Warning Systems (EWS), aimed at reducing vulnerability and building resilience to extreme heat in African cities. The project will be implemented in the framework of the HE2AT project," said Professor Cissé Gueladio (Principal Investigator of the HE2AT project, also former Director General of CRCS and Associate Professor at UPGC Korhogo) at the opening of the meeting on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.

Scheduled to last from five (05) to ten (10) years, this project will allow Ivorian, South African and American researchers to establish a data science and analytical platform, capable of documenting the impacts of extreme heat, informing sensitive early warning and monitoring systems across sub-Saharan Africa.

The only Ivorian university chosen to conduct the HE2AT project, the authorities of the University Péléforo Gon Coulibaly of Korhogo (UPGC) are pleased with the honor given by the scientific world to this institution, which since 2008 conducts scientific research on climate change and its consequences on the lives of populations.

"Faced with this problem of global interest, even global urgency, the University Peleforo Gon Coulibay is pleased to contribute to the search for appropriate responses in close collaboration with eminent research institutions that I mentioned earlier. This is the place to congratulate and thank the project team as a whole and particularly that of the UPGC coordinated by Prof. Cissé Guéladio. My thanks also go to Prof. Vanga Adja Ferdinand and Prof. Koné Brama for their daily efforts to make this workshop possible," said Professor Diabaté Donourou, Secretary General of the University Peleforo Gon Coulibaly, representing the President of the Institution, Professor Coulibaly Adama.

The HE2AT project will focus its case studies on the cities of Johannesburg, South Africa, and Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and will use big data and data science methods to help identify promising adaptation interventions and optimize programs to reduce the health impacts of climate change in Africa.

S.L/ operanews