Climate change a global health risk
[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 1
14 April - 12 May 2008 ] By Grant Blashki
The world’s poorest, most vulnerable people are most directly at risk.
Pick up any magazine or turn on the TV, and what’s clear is that we are in the midst of the one of the greatest social transformations of our generation.
Communities and individuals are urging policy makers to make bold political, technological and economic reforms aimed at reducing carbon emissions and slowing climate change.
Realistically, however, even under the most optimistic emissions reduction scenarios, the inertia in the climate system means that we are committed to some warming in coming decades and we will need to adapt.
Scientific consensus is strong that climate change is continuing, that it will have substantial health effects around the world, and that it is in fact already responsible for a substantial disease burden.
The health sector has an important leadership role in helping policy makers to think beyond market forces alone, and to understand the true public health costs of inaction.
Protecting health from climate change was the theme of a World Health Day University of Melbourne public lecture last week (7 April) hosted by the University’s McCaughey Centre: VicHealth Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health and Community Wellbeing as part of its commitment to strengthening the foundations of healthy, just and resilient communities.
Notably, of all the global public health challenges we face, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chose climate change as its theme for 2008’s World Health Day. WHO recognises that global health and wellbeing in coming decades will depend to a major extent on stabilising and adapting to climate change.
One aim of World Health Day is to urge countries to prepare for and adapt to those climate sensitive illnesses likely to occur in their region. Among measures covered, for example, were preparing for heatwaves, extreme weather events or resurgent infectious diseases.
Where people live makes a big difference to the sorts of health risks they might experience from climate change. If you are an inhabitant of a small Pacific island or living on a megadelta in Asia, your greatest concern will be sea level rise. If you are a farmer in a drought-prone region, predictions of long-term drying and altered precipitation patterns will be most worrying.
The world’s poorest, most vulnerable people are most directly in the firing line of climate change. Especially at risk are those in countries with high levels of poverty, malnutrition, and weak health care systems where existing public health problems will be exacerbated.
The challenges for Australia are likely to be dealing with the health impacts associated with more frequent droughts and long-term drying, managing alterations in the transmission of some infectious diseases, and preparing for extreme weather events.
With the devastating impact of the drought in our minds, predictions that we can expect more frequent drought months in coming decades, especially in southern Australia, are a reminder of just how much Australians have invested in solving the climate crisis.
From an international perspective, if we want to achieve The UN’s Millennium Development Goals including ending extreme poverty and reducing child mortality, managing climate change will need to be part of the solution.
Action from health professionals should include advocacy of a strong and effective mitigation strategy, in addition to a range of adaptation strategies to prevent climate-related illnesses.
Dr Grant Blashki is a GP; a Senior Research Fellow at the Primary Care Research Unit, University of Melbourne; an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Kings College London; Victorian Representative of Doctors for the Environment Australia; and Mentor in the Al Gore Climate Change Leadership Program.
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