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

[Vern Weitzel]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[EQ] Protecting health from climate change: connecting
science, policy and people.
Date: 	Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:39:11 -0500
From: 	Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at PAHO.ORG>
Reply-To: 	Equity, Health & Human Development <EQUIDAD at LISTSERV.PAHO.ORG>
To: 	EQUIDAD at LISTSERV.PAHO.ORG



*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