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Welcome to the latest update from the Standards for Official Statistics on Climate Health Interactions (SOSCHI) project team, which is part of the Climate and Global Health, International Division at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In this issue, we have included images of the ONS project members. In future editions we will introduce our colleagues from the African Institute of Mathematical Science (AIMS), Rwanda in September, and in December our colleagues from the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), Ghana. We are delighted to share news from this project with you and appreciate your interest and support.
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 Picture: SOSCHI project ONS team members
Top row: Myer Glickman, Bonang Lewis, Vijendra Ingole, Claire Hunt, Kenechi Omeke
Bottom row: Gladin Jose, Matt Pearce, Ellie Watkins, Charlie Browning, Sarah Phelps
Update: Climate and health framework
On 6 June we published indicator methodologies and metadata for:
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Extreme weather events: mortality attributed to flash flood events
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Air pollution: mortality attributable to Outdoor PM2.5
This work led by AIMS team can also be found on the climate and health platform.
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SOSCHI in focus: sharing, collaborating, and advancing climate-health research
 Picture: Etse Yawo Dzakpa of AIMS Rwanda taking part in a group discussion on climate and health research at the Humanitarian Health Research Forum
May 2025 has provided some excellent opportunities for the SOSCHI project at AIMS to share insights, foster collaboration and explore the application of our research across platforms. This helps to solidify our visibility and relevance in the climate-health research ecosystem.
At the Humanitarian Health Research Forum 2025, which took place in Nairobi, SOSCHI was prominently featured. Dr Etse Yawo, AIMS postdoctoral researcher, took part in a panel discussion on funding and coordinating climate-health research in humanitarian contexts.
AIMS researchers, Dr Béatrice Byukusenge, Dr Lema Logamou Seknewna, and Dr Venuste Nyagahakwa, represented our project at the Mathematical Malaria Modelling training workshop in Rwanda. This multi-disciplinary gathering of academics, public health stakeholders, and National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs), explored how mathematical modelling can inform malaria control and elimination strategies across Africa.
Discussions centred on the impact of climate change on Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) and the need for climate-smart planning in malaria programmes. These conversations highlighted the potential for SOSCHI’s indicators to strengthen future malaria modelling efforts and inform policy-relevant research.
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Civil Service Climate and Environment Network conference
Picture: team at the Civil Service Climate and Environment Network conference. From left to right: Matt Pearce, ONS, Ellie Watkins, ONS, Anna Rom UK Health Security Agency, Kenechi Omeke, ONS
On 18 March, the ONS SOSCHI team, together with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), attended the Civil Service Climate and Environment Network (CSCEN) conference, held in London.
The event brought together over 1,000 public servants and other professionals working in this space, giving the team an opportunity to connect with more stakeholders across the UK government.
The theme of this year’s conference was green innovation. The team presented on the SOSCHI project during the panel session titled: 'Weathering the storm: Tackling climate health impacts'. We also hosted a stall, giving attendees the opportunity to live demo the online platform. We have discussed options for pursuing further satellite data opportunities with Space4Climate.
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Health Data Research UK and Data Science Campus presentation
On 2 April, Kenechi Omeke from our project team, presented at the Health Data Research (HDR UK) and ONS Data Science Campus Health Data Science online webinar on health and international development.
This event explored how data science can play a pivotal role in supporting international development objectives and had over 100 attendees. Kenechi’s presentation titled, 'Developing tools to measure the health impacts of climate hazards', highlighted the data science aspects of the SOSCHI project.
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The United Nations Expert Group on Environment Climate Change Statistics health sub-group
The Expert Group on Environment Climate Change Statistics (EG-ECCS), which the UN Statistical Division manages (see last newsletter), has set up a sub-group on climate and health indicators, which has now met twice.
The ONS chairs the sub-group, which is co-led with the World Health Organisation (WHO) climate and health team. We are especially pleased that WHO agreed to be closely involved with this initiative, reflecting the importance of coordinating global efforts on climate change by bringing together all the international institutions with a role to play.
Upcoming meetings and conferences for the team
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WHO’s and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)’s Expert workshop on heat metrics and surveillance to improving public health – 23-25 June, London
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UN Expert Group on Environment and Climate Change Statistics (EG-ECCS), 23-25 September, London
Complete the Climate and Health project feedback survey
We invite you to take part in our feedback survey.
Your insights and feedback are invaluable to the project's work towards creating robust standards that will help better understand and address the impacts of climate on health worldwide.
Related links
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Contact
If you have any questions about any elements of this newsletter, please get in touch with the team at: climate.health@ons.gov.uk
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