Rainer Sauerborn
Biographic Data
| ID | 96027 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rainer Sauerborn |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rainer |
| FAMILY NAME | Sauerborn |
| SIGNATURE | SAUERBORN R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Heidelberg University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3201-4058 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 78 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 267 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 78 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Assessing heat exposure and its effects on farmer health, harvest yields, and nutrition: A study protocol for Burkina Faso and Kenya
Rising temperatures in Africa present an increasing threat to agricultural productivity and public health, particularly among subsistence farming communities reliant on rain-fed agriculture. Heat exposure can impair farmers' work capacity, disrupt harvests, and heighten health risks, especially for young children vulnerable to undernutrition. The Heat to Harvest (H2H) study investigates how environmental heat exposure influences farmers' physiolo…
Physical effort during labour and behavioural adaptations in response to heat stress among subsistence farmers in Burkina Faso: A gender-specific longitudinal observational study
Prepared for the polycrisis? The need for complexity science and systems thinking to address global and national evidence gaps
The Sustainable Development Goals are far off track. The convergence of global threats such as climate change, conflict and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic—among others—call for better data and research evidence that can account for the complex interactions between these threats. In the time of polycrisis, global and national-level data and research evidence must address complexity. Viewed through the lens of ‘systemic risk’, there i…
The effects of climate change-induced flooding on harvest failure in Burkina Faso: Case study
Background: Climate change leads to more frequent and severe extreme weather events including floods, heatwaves, heavy rainfalls, and droughts. In contrast to the majority of research on weather extremes in sub-Saharan Africa, which focus primarily on how a lack of rainfall causes droughts, this paper aims to elucidate the effect of flooding on harvest failure in rural Burkina Faso. Methods: = 180) on whether any of their fields had been inundate…
Widening the lens of population-based health research to climate change impacts and adaptation: The climate change and health evaluation and response system (CHEERS)
Background: Climate change significantly impacts health in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), exacerbating vulnerabilities. Comprehensive data for evidence-based research and decision-making is crucial but scarce. Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSSs) in Africa and Asia provide a robust infrastructure with longitudinal population cohort data, yet they lack climate-health specific data. Acquiring this information is essential for…
Institutional barriers to climate change and health adaptation in Burkina Faso
West African countries, such as Burkina Faso are particularly vulnerable to an array of health impacts due to climate change. Consequently, Burkina Faso has drafted and implemented adaptation plans and programmes, with varying levels of success. This exploratory qualitative study examines the institutional barriers faced by policymakers in this process, particularly in the health system of concern. We applied in-depth interviews with policymakers…
‘Climate change mitigation is a hot topic, but not when it comes to hospitals’: A qualitative study on hospital stakeholders’ perception and sense of responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions
OBJECTIVE: Physical and mental well-being are threatened by climate change. Since hospitals in high-income countries contribute significantly to climate change through their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the medical ethics imperative of 'do no harm' imposes a responsibility on hospitals to decarbonise. We investigated hospital stakeholders' perceptions of hospitals' GHG emissions sources and the sense of responsibility for reducing GHG emission…
Using wearable devices to generate real-world, individual-level data in rural, low-resource contexts in Burkina Faso, Africa: A case study
Background Wearable devices may generate valuable data for global health research for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, wearable studies in LMICs are scarce. This study aims to investigate the use of consumer-grade wearables to generate individual-level data in vulnerable populations in LMICs, focusing on the acceptability (quality of the devices being accepted or even liked) and feasibility (the state of being workable, realizab…
Massive Open Online Courses for Health Worker Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review
Background: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to improve access to quality education for health care workers (HCWs) globally. Although studies have reported on the use of MOOCs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), our understanding of the scope of their utilization or access barriers and facilitators for this cohort is limited. We conducted a scoping review to map published peer-reviewed literature on MOOCs for HCW ed…
Every drop matters: Combining population-based and satellite data to investigate the link between lifetime rainfall exposure and chronic undernutrition in children under five years in rural Burkina Fa…
Climate change is projected to induce extreme and irregular rainfall patterns in the West African Sahel region, affecting household food security and income. Children are among the worst affected population groups. Previous studies focusing on rainfall irregularities in specified periods have revealed how child health and nutritional status are impacted, especially in rural settings. However, the aggregated effect of rainfall over a lifetime on c…
Is migration an effective adaptation to climate-related agricultural distress in sub-Saharan Africa
Migration is often considered a form of climate change adaptation by which individuals, households, and communities seek to reduce the risks associated with climate change. In this study, we examine first-time seasonal migration out of a village in North-Western Burkina Faso to neighbouring countries, triggered by more irregular rainfall patterns. Through a set of 52 qualitative interviews, we analyse the perceptions of migrants themselves as wel…
The Impact of Rainfall Variability on Diets and Undernutrition of Young Children in Rural Burkina Faso
Background: Climate change and consequent increases in rainfall variability may have negative consequences for the food production of subsistence farmers in West Africa with adverse impacts on nutrition and health. We explored the pathway from rainfall through diet up to child undernutrition for rural Burkina Faso. Methods: The study used data of a dynamic cohort with 1,439 children aged 7–60 months from the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveilla…
Population-Based Prevalence of Oral Conditions as a Basis for Planning Community-Based Interventions: An Epidemiological Study From Rural Burkina Faso
Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to: (i) provide timely data on dental caries and periodontal conditions in rural Burkina Faso; (ii) identify the oral health practices carried out in this population, and (iii) to prioritize evidence-based interventions at the community level. Methods: Leaning on WHO recommendations for oral health epidemiological studies, clinical examinations and questionnaire-based surveys were conducted in two …
Community acceptance of environmental larviciding against malaria with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis in rural Burkina Faso – A knowledge, attitudes and practices study
BACKGROUND: Malaria control is based on early treatment of cases and on vector control. The current measures for malaria vector control in Africa are mainly based on long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and to a much smaller extent on indoor residual spraying (IRS). While bed net use is widely distributed and its role is intensively researched, Bti-based larviciding is a relatively novel tool in Africa. In this study, we analyze the perception …
Climate Change, Health Risks, and Vulnerabilities in Burkina Faso: A Qualitative Study on the Perceptions of National Policymakers
Climate change (CC) constitutes one of the greatest threats to human health, and requires political awareness for effective and efficient adaptation planning. This study identified the perceptions of climate change and health adaptation (CC&H) among relevant stakeholders, decision-makers, and policymakers (SDPs) in Burkina Faso (BF) by determining their perceptions of CC, of related health risks and vulnerabilities, and of CC impacts on agricultu…
The Demand for Health Insurance in a Poor Economy: Evidence from Burkina Faso
We investigate the properties of health insurance demand in Burkina Faso, where we offered poor households a voluntary health insurance product at half the usual price. The targeting procedure we implemented delivers a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, which identifies the price elasticity of demand for health insurance as well as associated selection effects. We find large price elasticities among urban households, whereas the demand of rur…
Biological larviciding against malaria vector mosquitoes with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) – Long term observations and assessment of repeatability during an additional intervention year o…
spp. mosquito abundance was reduced by 77.4% (full treatment) and 63.5% (guided treatment) compared to the baseline year. The results showed that malaria vector abundance can be dramatically reduced using biological larviciding and that this effect can be achieved and maintained over several consecutive transmission seasons
Health and migration in the context of a changing climate: A systematic literature assessment
Background. Climate change and climate variability interact with political, economic, social, demographic, and other environmental drivers to change the scale and patterns of human migration 5 . In the context of accelerating climate change and breaches to other planetary boundaries, there is an urgent need to better understand how migrant health can be protected and promoted in the context of a changing climate to manage safe and orderly migrati…
We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso
In West Africa, climate change aggravates subsistence farmers' vulnerability to weather variability to sustain their agricultural and nutritional requirements. For successful adaptation policies, in-depth understanding of farmers' perceptions about climate change, agriculture, and adaptation strategies is essential. This qualitative study in rural Burkina Faso characterized farmers' perceptions and knowledge through in-depth interviews. The study…
The Role of Health in Households’ Balancing Act for Lifestyles Compatible with the Paris Agreement—Qualitative Results from Mannheim, Germany
Household lifestyles are the main drivers of climate change. Climate change mitigation measures directed to households often have substantial health co-benefits. The European mixed-methods study HOPE (HOuseholds' Preferences for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in four European high-income countries) investigates households' preferences for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and particularly researches the role of information on health co-benefit…
Lessons learned on teaching a global audience with massive open online courses (Moocs) on health impacts of climate change: A commentary
BACKGROUND: The adverse health impacts of climate change are increasing on a global level. However, knowledge about climate change and health is still unavailable to many global citizens, in particular on adaptation measures and co-benefits of health mitigation. Educational technologies, such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), may have a high potential for providing access to information about climate change links to health for a global audi…
It starts at home? Climate policies targeting household consumption and behavioral decisions are key to low-carbon futures
Through their consumption behavior, households are responsible for 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, they are key actors in reaching the 1.5 °C goal under the Paris Agreement. However, the possible contribution and position of households in climate policies is neither well understood, nor do households receive sufficiently high priority in current climate policy strategies. This paper investigates how behavioral change can achieve a s…
Human health as a motivator for climate change mitigation: Results from four European high-income countries
Promoting health under the Paris Climate Agreement – results from a European mixed-methods study
How Well Do COP22 Attendees Understand Graphs on Climate Change Health Impacts from the Fifth IPCC Assessment Report
Graphs are prevalent in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), often depicting key points and major results. However, the popularity of graphs in the IPCC reports contrasts with a neglect of empirical tests of their understandability. Here we put the understandability of three graphs taken from the Health chapter of the Fifth Assessment Report to an empirical test. We present a pilot study where we evaluate objective…
It starts at home? Climate policies targeting household consumption and behavioral decisions are key to low-carbon futures
Through their consumption behavior, households are responsible for 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, they are key actors in reaching the 1.5 °C goal under the Paris Agreement. However, the possible contribution and position of households in climate policies is neither well understood, nor do households receive sufficiently high priority in current climate policy strategies. This paper investigates how behavioral change can achieve a s…
Household strategies to cope with the economic costs of illness
Towards a conceptual framework of household coping: Reflections from rural West Africa
The study and application of household coping have largely been confined to the problems of famine and food insecurity. Based on field insights from West Africa, this paper argues that understanding how households cope and allocate resources in times of crisis is of immense value to a broad array of development interventions. It also introduces a conceptual framework that evaluates household coping in exogenous and endogenous contexts. The applic…
To enrol or not to enrol: A qualitative investigation of demand for health insurance in rural West Africa
Seasonal variations of household costs of illness in Burkina Faso
One hundred and eighteen years of the German health insurance system: Are There Any Lessons for Middle- And Low-Income Countries
Low utilization of community health workers: Results from a household interview survey in Burkina Faso
The elasticity of demand for health care in Burkina Faso: Differences across age and income groups
Like many other developing countries, Burkina Faso has been exploring how community resources can be tapped to co-finance health services. Although revenue generation is important for the viability of health services, effects on utilization and on equity of access to health care must also be considered. The authors present a logistic regression model to derive price elasticities of demand for health care based on cross-sectional survey data. Whil…
Utilization of health care in an African urban area: Results from a household survey in Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso
Do community-based health insurance schemes fulfil the promise of equity? A study from Burkina Faso
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the community-based health insurance (CBHI) scheme in Burkina Faso has been effective in providing equitable healthcare access to poor individuals, women, children and those living far from health facilities. METHODS: We used the Nouna Health District Household Survey to collect panel data on 990 households during 2004-08. By applying a series of random effects regressions and using concentration curves, we first stu…
Health insurance and health-seeking behavior: Evidence from a randomized community-based insurance rollout in rural Burkina Faso
The opposing effects of climate change and socio-economic development on the global distribution of malaria
Is migration an effective adaptation to climate-related agricultural distress in sub-Saharan Africa
Migration is often considered a form of climate change adaptation by which individuals, households, and communities seek to reduce the risks associated with climate change. In this study, we examine first-time seasonal migration out of a village in North-Western Burkina Faso to neighbouring countries, triggered by more irregular rainfall patterns. Through a set of 52 qualitative interviews, we analyse the perceptions of migrants themselves as wel…
Human health as a motivator for climate change mitigation: Results from four European high-income countries
Illness reporting and demand for medical care in rural Burkina Faso
Provider payment methods and health worker motivation in community-based health insurance: A mixed-methods study
A comparison of the reliability of the take-it-or-leave-it and the bidding game approaches to estimating willingness-to-pay in a rural population in West Africa
Explaining climate policies’ popularity—An empirical study in four European countries
Direct and Indirect Estimates of Maternal Mortality in Rural Burkina Faso
A retrospective study of maternal mortality was conducted in Nouna, a rural area of Burkina Faso in 1992. Strong evidence was found of a major mortality decline among children and young adults over the 50 years preceding the study: The estimated life expectancy of 36 years in around 1945 rose to 58 years in 1991. Direct and indirect (using the sisterhood method) estimates of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) were compared. Overall, the direct es…
Low utilization of community health workers: Results from a household interview survey in Burkina Faso
The elasticity of demand for health care in Burkina Faso: Differences across age and income groups
Like many other developing countries, Burkina Faso has been exploring how community resources can be tapped to co-finance health services. Although revenue generation is important for the viability of health services, effects on utilization and on equity of access to health care must also be considered. The authors present a logistic regression model to derive price elasticities of demand for health care based on cross-sectional survey data. Whil…
Seasonal variations of household costs of illness in Burkina Faso
Utilization of health care in an African urban area: Results from a household survey in Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso
Household strategies to cope with the economic costs of illness
Direct and Indirect Estimates of Maternal Mortality in Rural Burkina Faso
A retrospective study of maternal mortality was conducted in Nouna, a rural area of Burkina Faso in 1992. Strong evidence was found of a major mortality decline among children and young adults over the 50 years preceding the study: The estimated life expectancy of 36 years in around 1945 rose to 58 years in 1991. Direct and indirect (using the sisterhood method) estimates of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) were compared. Overall, the direct es…
Towards a conceptual framework of household coping: Reflections from rural West Africa
The study and application of household coping have largely been confined to the problems of famine and food insecurity. Based on field insights from West Africa, this paper argues that understanding how households cope and allocate resources in times of crisis is of immense value to a broad array of development interventions. It also introduces a conceptual framework that evaluates household coping in exogenous and endogenous contexts. The applic…
Perceptions of Risk, Vulnerability, and Disease Prevention in Rural Burkina Faso: Implications for Community-Based Health Care and Insurance
This paper examines local discourse on perceived risk and vulnerability among rural and semiurban populations in Kossi Province in the northwest of Burkina Faso. Focus group data are presented to elucidate this discourse in a number of risk domains. Local notions of disease prevention are exemplified with respect to malaria, diarrhea, and vaccine-preventable diseases. Quantitative measures on perceived severity and perceived personal vulnerabilit…
One hundred and eighteen years of the German health insurance system: Are There Any Lessons for Middle- And Low-Income Countries
A comparison of the reliability of the take-it-or-leave-it and the bidding game approaches to estimating willingness-to-pay in a rural population in West Africa
To enrol or not to enrol: A qualitative investigation of demand for health insurance in rural West Africa
Effect of meteorological factors on clinical malaria risk among children: An assessment using village-based meteorological stations and community-based parasitological survey
Temperature was the best predictor for clinical malaria among children under five. A systematic measurement of local temperature through ground stations and integration of such data in the routine health information system could support assessment of malaria transmission risk at the district level for well-targeted control efforts
Climate change influences infectious diseases both in the Arctic and the tropics: Joining the dots
limate change is incontestably a phenomenon of global causes and impacts. However, as much as the contribution of different regions and countries to climate change differs, as much differ the impacts. This paper examines the current and potential impact of climate change on infectious diseases in regions that could not be more different: the Arctic and the tropics (The Arctic is the area north of the Arctic Circle (66.68N), while the tropics lie …
Using high spatial resolution remote sensing for risk mapping of malaria occurrence in the Nouna district, Burkina Faso
INTRODUCTION: Malaria control measures such as early diagnosis and treatment, intermittent treatment of pregnant women, impregnated bed nets, indoor spraying and larval control measures are difficult to target specifically because of imprecise estimates of risk at a small-scale level. Ways of estimating local risks for malaria are therefore important. METHODS: A high-resolution satellite view from the SPOT 5 satellite during 2008 was used to gene…
Cooking fuels and the push for cleaner alternatives: A case study from Burkina Faso
INTRODUCTION: More than 95% of the population in Burkina Faso uses some form of solid biomass fuel. When these fuels are burned in traditional, inefficient stoves, pollutant levels within and outside the home can be very high. This can have important consequences for both health and climate change. Thus, the push to switch to cleaner burning fuels is advantageous. However, there are several considerations that need to be taken into account when c…
Local scale prediction of Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission in an endemic region using temperature and rainfall
BACKGROUND: To support malaria control strategies, prior knowledge of disease risk is necessary. Developing a model to explain the transmission of malaria, in endemic and epidemic regions, is of high priority in developing health system interventions. We develop, fit and validate a non-spatial dynamic model driven by meteorological conditions that can capture seasonal malaria transmission dynamics at the village level in a malaria holoendemic are…
Climate variability and increase in intensity and magnitude of dengue incidence in Singapore
INTRODUCTION: Dengue is currently a major public health burden in Asia Pacific Region. This study aims to establish an association between dengue incidence, mean temperature and precipitation, and further discuss how weather predictors influence the increase in intensity and magnitude of dengue in Singapore during the period 2000-2007. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Weekly dengue incidence data, daily mean temperature and precipitation and the midyear po…
Health as a crucial driver for climate policy
Health impacts of climate change and the need to \nprevent them should be at centre stage of the \nongoing debate on climate policies (1). We \nhave specifically prepared this series of papers to be \navailable for the COP151 conference in Copenhagen, to \nwhich the world looks to agree on targets and procedures \nto reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the basis \nof fair burden-sharing between high and low-income \ncountries
The Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Nouna, Burkina Faso, 1993–2007
The Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) is located in rural Burkina Faso and has existed since 1992. Currently, it has about 78,000 inhabitants. It is a member of the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health in Developing Countries (INDEPTH), a global network of members who conducts longitudinal health and demographic evaluation of populations in low- and middle-income countries. The…
Using community wealth ranking to identify the poor for subsidies: A case study of community-based health insurance in Nouna, Burkina Faso
Access to health-care is low in developing countries. Poor people are less likely to seek care than those who are better off. Community-based health insurance (CBI) aims to improve healthcare utilisation by removing financial barriers, unfortunately CBI has been less effective in securing equity than expected. Poor people, who probably require greater protection from catastrophic health expenses, are less likely to enrol in such schemes. Therefor…
Illness reporting and demand for medical care in rural Burkina Faso
The opposing effects of climate change and socio-economic development on the global distribution of malaria
Climate change and natural disasters – integrating science and practice to protect health
BACKGROUND: Hydro-meteorological disasters are the focus of this paper. The authors examine, to which extent climate change increases their frequency and intensity. METHODS: Review of IPCC-projections of climate-change related extreme weather events and related literature on health effects. RESULTS: Projections show that climate change is likely to increase the frequency, intensity, duration, and spatial distribution of a range of extreme weather…
Measuring self-reported health in low-income countries: Piloting three instruments in semi-rural Burkina Faso
BACKGROUND: National surveys in low-income countries increasingly rely on self-reported measures of health. The ease, speed, and economy of collecting self-reports of health make such collection attractive for rapid appraisals. However, the interpretation of these measures is complicated since different cultures understand and respond to the same question in different ways. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this pilot study was to develop a culturally sensit…
The challenges of developing an instrument to assess health provider motivation at primary care level in rural Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania
BACKGROUND: The quality of health care depends on the competence and motivation of the health workers that provide it. In the West, several tools exist to measure worker motivation, and some have been applied to the health sector. However, none have been validated for use in sub-Saharan Africa. The complexity of such tools has also led to concerns about their application at primary care level. OBJECTIVE: To develop a common instrument to monitor …
Medicine (61 works) · Environmental health (48 works) · Economics (35 works) · Geography (33 works) · Economic growth (28 works) · Climate change (25 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (25 works) · Political science (24 works) · Climate Change and Health Impacts (23 works) · Population (23 works)