Expert consensus highlights practical skills needed to strengthen surveillance, outbreak response, and preparedness for climate- and environment-related health threats
As climate change and environmental hazards increasingly influence disease patterns and public health emergencies, a new study conducted through a joint project between the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified the skills field epidemiologists need to better detect, investigate, and respond to these threats across the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR).
Published in Frontiers in Public Health, the study, “Developing and Defining Core Climate and Environmental Epidemiology Competencies for Field Epidemiology Training Programs in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Delphi Study,” provides a practical framework for integrating climate change and environmental epidemiology into Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs).
Using a three-round Delphi process, the researchers gathered and validated expert perspectives on the competencies field epidemiologists need. Thirty experts from 13 countries participated in the second round, bringing expertise in epidemiology, environmental health, climate change, public health policy, and related fields.
Experts identified several priority areas for strengthening FETP training:
- Tracking climate-related health threats, including heat-related illness and climate-sensitive diseases.
- Investigating environmental health risks, including exposure to air, water, chemical, and other hazards.
- Using environmental and health data together to better understand and anticipate health risks.
- Communicating risks effectively to communities, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
- Strengthening One Health and multisectoral collaboration across health, environment, agriculture, water, veterinary, and other relevant sectors.
Together, these skills can help field epidemiologists identify emerging threats earlier and strengthen preparedness and response.
Integrating Climate and Environmental Health into Field Epidemiology
A central recommendation of the study is to build these skills into existing FETP training and fieldwork. The framework proposes a tiered approach, introducing foundational competencies at the Basic level and progressively developing more advanced analytical, policy, and preparedness skills at the Intermediate and Advanced levels.
Training could include practical assignments such as incorporating temperature, rainfall, or air-quality information into disease surveillance, investigating outbreaks with possible environmental drivers, assessing community vulnerability to heat or water-related risks, and working with environmental and veterinary partners on joint surveillance.
This approach is particularly relevant to the Eastern Mediterranean Region, where climate change intersects with water scarcity, extreme heat, air pollution, chemical hazards, conflict, displacement, and fragile health systems.
The study concludes that integrating climate and environmental competencies into FETPs provides a practical and scalable pathway for building a field epidemiology workforce better prepared for increasingly complex public health threats.
The paper was published on August 6, 2026, in Frontiers in Public Health and is available open access.
Read the full paper: https://bit.ly/4gj4HkT
