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Prescription for a Healthy Planet

Sign up to Prescription for a Healthy Planet. This campaign is led by the Health and Environment Alliance and Health Care without Harm. The Climate and Health Council is a founder signatory of the Prescription.

The Health Practitioners Guide to Climate Change: Diagnosis and Cure

'The Health Practitioners Guide to Climate Change: Diagnosis and Cure' has just been published by Earthscan (ISBN 978-1-84407-729-8).

The time for action is now

'The time for action is now' [ppt, 4 MB] is an up-to-date slide set, covering the basic science of climate change, health effects, potential health benefits of appropriate action, international action - Contraction and Convergence, and specific actions for health professionals.

Slide index:

  • SLIDES 1-20   The Basic Science of Climate Change
  • SLIDES 21-46  Health Consequences
  • SLIDES 47-54  Potential Health Benefits of Appropriate Action
  • SLIDES 55-59  International action - Contraction and Convergence
  • SLIDES 60-79  Specific actions Health professionals can take

Delhi Declaration on Health and Climate

The World Medical Association, representing almost a hundred Medical Associations across the world, has adopted the Delhi Declaration on Health and Climate.


TEN PRACTICAL ACTIONS FOR DOCTORS

The Climate and Health Council and the Health and Sustainability Network have prepared a short paper proposing Ten Practical Actions for Doctors to Combat Climate Change, which was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2008;336: 1507).

The Ten Practical Actions reflect the Climate and Health Council framework: Inform, Affirm, Advocate, Innovate and Disseminate. The primary focus is on action by doctors as health professionals, as well as citizens. The estimates therefore concern mainly action in the workplace (hospital or general practice). We have deliberately suggested actions that require little or no money.

Click here to read a summary of the proposed actions, as well as a first attempt at calculating the potential tonnes of carbon that might be saved from the 'affirmative' group of actions.


World Health Day on Climate Change

DID YOU KNOW? By taking action on Climate Change you are protecting human health:
REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT CAN BE GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH
REDUCING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF THE HEALTH SECTOR


 

Ten practical actions*

  1. Inform ourselves about the basic science of climate change, the health benefits of taking action, and the urgency of doing so.
  2. Advise our patients. Better diet and more walking and cycling will improve their health and reduce their carbon emissions.
  3. Use less energy ourselves (and reduce costs) by more insulation in the roof, walls, and floors; turning off appliances and lights; and, where possible, reducing use of goods and services.
  4. Drive the car less; fly less; walk or cycle more; use public transport; drive an efficient car; share cars; hold meetings by teleconference, videoconference, or webcasting; attend fewer international conferences.
  5. Influence food menus wherever we go — ask for local food, less meat, and less processed food; a low carbon diet is a healthy diet. Drink tap water.
  6. Advocate locally, especially in primary care, to maximise home insulation and uptake of relevant grants.
  7. Advocate for personal carbon entitlements within an equitable, fair shares global framework, such as Contraction and Convergence.
  8. Advocate to stabilise population — by promoting literacy and promoting women's access to birth control, through the International Planned Parenthood Federation or Marie Stopes International.
  9. Be a champion: put climate change on the agenda of all meetings — clinical teams, committees, professional networks. Doctors can tip opinion with chairs and chief executives.
  10. Gear up your own influence and that of all health professionals by joining the Climate and Health Council or the Health and Sustainability Network, or both.

*Taken from 'Ten Practical actions for doctors to combat climate change' J Griffiths J, A Hill, J Spiby, M Gill, R Stott BMJ 2008;336:1507. Read more.

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