Boston, 15 April 2024:- A new ‘perspective’ article published today in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) highlights the crucial role the health community must play in the worldwide response to climate change – both demanding action from policymakers and preparing health systems.
The article, Advocating for a Healthy Response to Climate Change — COP28 and the Health Community, authored by Jeni Miller, PhD, Executive Director of the Global Climate & Health Alliance, Courtney Howard, MD, Vice-Chair, Global Climate & Health Alliance, University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine and Emergency Medicine at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and Lujain Alquodmani, MD, President of the World Medical Association and Director of Global Action and Project Portfolio at EAT, discusses the health community’s role in demanding climate action for governments, health professionals’ potential to “bring about dramatic shifts social norms, policy, and markets, with the potential to boost the uptake of sustainable decarbonization and resilience solutions in multiple sectors.”
The article also explores how the health communities must respond to “the health emergency that climate change represents”, describes how health professionals came together ahead of COP28 to demand a global phase out of fossil fuels, and addresses the future role of the health community in climate action.
“Health care professionals can lead by example within health systems and can make sure that national leaders continue to hear loudly and clearly that health should be at the center of climate-related decision making”, says the commentary.
Read Advocating for a Healthy Response to Climate Change — COP28 and the Health Community – note that free registration to the New England Journal of Medicine in order to read the article.
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Contacts:
For interviews or comments by the authors, please contact Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, Global Climate and Health Alliance, [email protected], +34 691 826 764
About GCHA
The Global Climate and Health Alliance is a consortium of more than 160 health professional and health civil society organizations and networks from around the world addressing climate change. We are united by a shared vision of an equitable, sustainable future, in which the health impacts of climate change are minimized, and the health co-benefits of climate change mitigation are maximised.
Find out more: https://climateandhealthalliance.org/about/