Drought can have far reaching implications for public health. Some drought-related health effects can occur suddenly, are short-term, and can be directly observed and measured. Other effects are chronic and occur over time, resulting in longer term, indirect health implications that are not always easy to anticipate.

Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Environmental Health and the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) developed this drought communication toolkit to provide materials about the public health effects of drought.