[EQ] Protecting health from climate change: connecting science, policy and people.

Protecting health from climate change: connecting science, policy and people

World Health Organization 2009

Available online PDF [36p.] at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241598880_eng.pdf

 

“……….All populations will be affected by a changing climate, but the initial health risks vary greatly, depending on where and how people live. People living in small island developing states and other coastal regions, megacities, and mountainous and polar regions are all particularly vulnerable in different ways.

Health effects are expected to be more severe for elderly people and people with infirmities or pre-existing medical conditions. The groups who are likely to bear most of the resulting disease burden are children and the poor, especially women. The major diseases that are most sensitive to climate change – diarrhoea, vector-borne diseases like malaria, and infections associated with undernutrition – are most serious in children living in poverty………”

 

The diverse, widespread, long-term and inequitable distribution of health risks makes climate change a truly global challenge, calling for an unprecedented degree of partnership. An effective response will require actions from across society: from individuals, the health sector, as well as community and political leaders. This requires a sharing of responsibilities between the populations that make the greatest contribution to climate change and those that are most vulnerable to its effects, in order to safeguard and enhance global public health security. The skills, capacities and shared values of the public health community can make an important contribution to a fair and effective response to climate change…..”

 

Summary

 

WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

1. Climate change: past and future

2. Climate and it s impact on the fundamentals of health

3. “Natural” disasters: the growing influence of climate change on heatwaves, floods, droughts and storms

4. Changing patterns of infection

5. Long-term stresses: water shortages, malnutrition, displacement and conflict

WHO IS AT RISK?

6. Vulnerable regions: exposed populations

7. Children: life-long exposure to health risks from climate change

8. The most vulnerable: they support the greatest health burdens

9. All of us: our shared health security

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

10. Putting health at the heart of the climate change agenda

11. Strengthening public health systems

12. Choosing healthy paths to a low-carbon future

13. Mobilizing the strength of the health community

References

 

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