Global environmental change: what can health care providers and the environmental health community do about it now?
- PMID: 17185267
- PMCID: PMC1764173
- DOI: 10.1289/ehp.9313
Global environmental change: what can health care providers and the environmental health community do about it now?
Abstract
The debate about whether global environmental change is real is now over; in its wake is the realization that it is happening more rapidly than predicted. These changes constitute a profound challenge to human health, both as a direct threat and as a promoter of other risks. We call on health care providers to inform themselves about these issues and to become agents of change in their communities. It is our responsibility as clinicians to educate patients and their communities on the connections between regressive policies, unsustainable behaviors, global environmental changes, and threats to health and security. We call on professional organizations to assist in educating their members about these issues, in helping clinicians practice behavior change with their patients, and in adding their voices to this issue in our statehouses and Congress. We call for the development of carbon and other environmental-labeling of consumer products so individuals can make informed choices; we also call for the rapid implementation of policies that provide tangible economic incentives for choosing environmentally sustainable products and services. We urge the environmental health community to take up the challenge of developing a global environmental health index that will incorporate human health into available "planetary health" metrics and that can be used as a policy tool to evaluate the impact of interventions and document spatial and temporal shifts in the healthfulness of local areas. Finally, we urge our political, business, public health, and academic leaders to heed these environmental warnings and quickly develop regulatory and policy solutions so that the health of populations and the integrity of their environments will be ensured for future generations.
Similar articles
-
Environmental factors influencing public health and medicine: policy implications.J Natl Med Assoc. 2002 Apr;94(4):185-93. J Natl Med Assoc. 2002. PMID: 11995631 Free PMC article.
-
Public policy and environmental noise: modeling exposure or understanding effects.Am J Public Health. 1997 Dec;87(12):2063-7. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.12.2063. Am J Public Health. 1997. PMID: 9431308 Free PMC article. Review.
-
[The contribution of health professionals in the integration of health and environmental protection].Ig Sanita Pubbl. 2015 Sep-Oct;71(5):515-25. Ig Sanita Pubbl. 2015. PMID: 26722828 Italian.
-
[The role of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in the decision-making].Epidemiol Prev. 2011 Mar-Apr;35(2):131-5. Epidemiol Prev. 2011. PMID: 21628757 Italian.
-
[Educational theories and models in health-promoting interventions: a critical analysis].Ig Sanita Pubbl. 2016 Jan-Feb;72(1):53-68. Ig Sanita Pubbl. 2016. PMID: 27077560 Review. Italian.
Cited by
-
Climate Change and Health: Challenges to the Local Government Environmental Health Workforce in South Australia.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jul 18;20(14):6384. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20146384. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023. PMID: 37510617 Free PMC article.
-
Climate change and the prevention of cardiovascular disease.Am J Prev Cardiol. 2022 Sep 11;12:100391. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpc.2022.100391. eCollection 2022 Dec. Am J Prev Cardiol. 2022. PMID: 36164332 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Athletic Trainers' Attitudes and Perceptions of Environmental Sustainability.J Athl Train. 2017 Dec;52(12):1109-1120. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-52.12.19. Epub 2017 Nov 27. J Athl Train. 2017. PMID: 29172650 Free PMC article.
-
The health threat of climate change: working in partnership with patients.Br J Gen Pract. 2016 Mar;66(644):149. doi: 10.3399/bjgp16X684097. Br J Gen Pract. 2016. PMID: 26917646 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
-
Peak oil and health in low- and middle-income countries: impacts and potential responses.Am J Public Health. 2011 Sep;101(9):1607-14. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300231. Epub 2011 Jul 21. Am J Public Health. 2011. PMID: 21778508 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Bindschadler R. Hitting the ice sheets where it hurts. Science. 2006;311:1720–1721. - PubMed
-
- Boykoff MT, Boykoff JM. Balance as bias: global warming and the U.S. prestige press. Global Environ Change. 2004;14:125–136.
-
- Brown LR. 2006. Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. New York:W.W. Norton & Company.
-
- Bukstein OG, Brent DA, Perper JA, Moritz G, Baugher M, Schweers J, et al. Risk factors for completed suicide among adolescents with a lifetime history of substance abuse: a case-control study. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1993;88(6):403–408. - PubMed
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous