**Abstract**

Climate change is one of the main challenges facing many countries, particularly developing countries, because of its negative impact on their various ecosystems and their socio-economic development, which very often leads them down a slow descent into poverty. This is because climate change can manifest itself in different forms such as climate variability and extreme events (droughts, epidemics, floods, storms and hurricanes), which can affect biodiversity and cause many human and animal diseases and deaths. In fact, the evolution of ecosystems is dependent on climate and environmental change and appears to be closely associated with many emerging or re-emerging diseases. In general, the ecosystems considered to be most exposed to climate change are those located in and around the intertropical convergence zone in particular. They are believed to be closely linked to the occurrence of several emerging diseases, particularly vector-borne diseases. For years, the Republic of Haiti has been experiencing the adverse effects of these global changes with a marked disruption of its rainfall pattern and prolonged periods of drought as well as a pronounced increase in temperatures even in high altitude areas. Although there is evidence that climate change is increasing the frequency of vector-borne diseases and may contribute to increasing the virulence of their pathogens, there are very few studies conducted in Haiti on the relationship between climate change and vector-borne diseases. The purpose of this chapter is to define the interrelationships between climate change and vector-borne diseases in Haiti by identifying avenues of research to better understand the effects of climate change on public health and to make appropriate recommendations to decision-makers to ensure proper management.

**Keywords:** Climate change, Vector-Borne Diseases, Ecosystems, Environmental Factors, Public Health, Ecological Sanitation (Haiti)

## **1. Introduction**

Global warming is a serious threat to humanity [1]. At the global level, warming trends have not ceased to manifest. As evidence of this, global annual air temperature increased by nearly 1°C between 1880 and 2017 [2] and the years 2015 to 2017 are considered to have been the warmest of all previous years within this period [3]. Moreover, the last three decades have been warmer than any previous decade since

1850 [4]. Long-term changes in temperature and precipitation are often accompanied by heat waves and intense rainfall, increasing the risk of flooding [5], mainly in countries in the Caribbean region such as Haiti.

Climate change is often described as one of the most pressing environmental challenges we face worldwide [6]. The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has confirmed that climate is being affected by human activities and has also highlighted that this has multiple impacts on human and animal health. Indeed, the work of the IPCC puts into perspective the weight of industrialization in climate disruption through significant greenhouse gas emissions. These actions are responsible for extreme hydrometeorological phenomena (droughts and floods), which can cause multiple cases of death and emergence of pathologies in living beings. Climatic disturbances are also at the origin of many infectious diseases, among which vector-borne diseases transmitted by hematophagous arthropods such as dengue fever, Zika, chikungunya and malaria.

Climate change is a major threat to Haiti, even though it contributes very little to the phenomenon. Like the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Republic of Haiti has been suffering for years from the adverse effects of global changes with a marked disruption in the rainfall pattern, the occurrence of prolonged periods of drought and a pronounced warming of temperature and air. As agricultural productivity continues to decline, water resource management is becoming increasingly difficult. The upward trending emergence of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya inoculated by invasive species of mosquitoes was observed in 2015. In the context of global climate change, dengue is considered one of the important diseases because of its high social impact recorded over the last three decades in the humid tropical world, with a risk of expansion into the temperate zone. According to the World Health Organization [7], dengue is the most important neglected disease today. Although it is reported that climate change is affecting the occurrence of infectious diseases, particularly vector-borne diseases, there have very few studies conducted in Haiti on the interrelationships between climate and vector-borne diseases. The purpose of this chapter is to define the interrelationships between climate change and vector-borne diseases in Haiti while conceptualizing the research in order to make the appropriate recommendations for their mitigation and the protection of public health. This chapter is divided into five sections: