The Weather Company, an IBM business, has partnered with healthcare analytics firm xtLytics to develop a solution to reduce the prevalence of infectious diseases worldwide.

xtLytics has created a Solution Excellence Centre at their facility in Noida which now combines The Weather Company data with xtLytics analytic capabilities to better understand how weather conditions affect the spread of disease, IBM said in a statement on Tuesday. The xtLytics centre will also help patients make better lifestyle decisions and help train data scientists on weather analytics, life sciences services, and ways to develop solutions for the healthcare ecosystem, the statement added.It will incorporate relevant datasets from The Weather Company such as severe weather, historical weather, current conditions and seasonal forecasts to help provide insights and measure risks for those making healthcare decisions. "IBM will work with life sciences application development partners like xtLytics in the hope of improving awareness around incorporating weather data and analytics to help better inform healthcare providers," said Himanshu Goyal, India Sales and Alliances Leader, The Weather Company. "The xtLytics solution will help the complete ecosystem of doctors, hospitals and pharma companies to stay better informed to better serve their customers and patients," Goyal said. 

The solution aims to provide a valuable understanding of the connection between personal health and climatic conditions, especially with geographic-specific diseases.History has shown that infectious disease outbreaks often follow severe weather events.In India, the onset of water-borne and vector-borne diseases during the monsoon - such as malaria, cholera, chikungunya and dengue - is quite common. Furthermore, certain weather conditions can play key roles in the spread of disease. Rainfall, temperature and humidity can aid in the development of the primary mosquito that carries diseases such as dengue and Zika. Therefore, the life sciences industry, vaccine companies and associations that specialise in infectious disease control can potentially benefit from the insights provided by the xtLytics centre."Our collaboration with The Weather Company aims to help organisations in the healthcare ecosystem effectively use the right resources in the right areas, cut unnecessary expenditures, and at the same time improve results," Deepak Mittal, CEO of xtLytics, said.