Already in the throes of climate change, health systems must evolve toward a framework that recognizes the link between human health and the Earth’s natural processes, according to a new report from Canadian health professionals.
Canada needs health care systems designed to minimize climate impacts and adapt to the risk of extreme weather events. integrating Indigenous worldviews that prioritize planetary well-being; and communicate evidence-based solutions in ways that improve health, advises the report.
Canadian medical associations have partnered with The Lancet produce a report that includes targeted recommendations to address the impacts of climate change on human health in Canada. The report follows the publication of the annual report Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change, which is an international collaboration focused on tracking changes in the health profile of climate change. Each year, the conclusions are published before the United Nations (UN) negotiations on climate change.
Dr Alika Lafontaine
“This year’s report highlights how a holistic, health-centered approach to aggravating crises – from climate shocks to the COVID-19 pandemic – can lead to a thriving future,” said Alika Lafontaine, MD, president of the Canadian Medical Association. Medscape Medical News.
The report has been published on October 26 by the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Public Health Association.
The countdown report
The health effects of climate change are rapidly increasing and intensifying around the world, the latest Lancet The countdown indicates. Even under the lowest emissions scenario modeled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming due to climate change is projected to accelerate until at least 2050.
The report highlights that fossil fuel-related air pollution is implicated in 1 in 5 deaths worldwide. Habitat loss threatens biodiversity and puts humans in closer contact with wildlife and livestock, contributing to the spread of vector-borne diseases and increasing the risk of future pandemics. In Canada, recent extreme weather events such as the British Columbia Heat Dome in 2021 have claimed hundreds of lives.
“Climate change is undermining the foundations of human health and health systems,” according to the Canadian report. “It taxes a healthcare system already strained by COVID-19 and its fallout.”
The Canadian report presents six recommendations for adopting a health-centred approach to climate change. First, Canada should establish a national secretariat to coordinate with provinces and territories, as well as with international climate and health networks, such as the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health. World Health Organization (WHO). This secretariat would be responsible for transforming Canada’s health system into a climate-resilient system that operates within planetary boundaries.
In addition, Canada should conduct provincial and territorial-led climate resilience analyzes of its health systems and use the results to improve preparedness for climate-related extreme events. An integral part of this effort would be to reduce structural and social inequalities in health.
Third, Canada should accelerate the incorporation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Canadian law in order to honor commitments, improve policy coherence and improve the well-being of current generations. and future.
Second, Canadian leaders should support the implementation of Bill C-226, which would develop a national strategy to assess, prevent and combat environmental racism and promote environmental justice.
Fifth, Canadian governments should focus climate programs and communications on the health benefits of climate solutions, including these benefits in cost analyzes of adaptation and mitigation policies.
Finally, media, academia, and nonprofit stakeholders should implement climate communication approaches that share positive stories of concrete actions taken to adapt and mitigate in ways that improve health.
“Canada needs a cohesive national initiative to coordinate efforts across jurisdictions and support legislation and the implementation of lasting changes to health systems,” the report said. “This would support Canada’s commitment in 2021 to the WHO health agenda at COP 26, taken alongside 50 other countries, to develop a sustainable climate-resilient, low-carbon health system d ‘by 2050.”
Take concrete action
Several local initiatives are emerging across the country. The Laval Integrated Health and Social Services Center recently carried out the first assessment of its greenhouse gas emissions. It shows that 90% of emissions come from indirect channels, such as supply chains, waste and transportation. Similarly, health authorities in British Columbia have developed low-carbon resilience guidelines for healthcare, and healthcare sector emissions are now reported annually to the provincial government.
“However, local health system initiatives are inconsistent and under-resourced,” the report said. “An isolated local health authority response cannot drive the structural changes needed to decarbonize Canada’s health sector and would collectively be more costly than a coordinated national response.”
Canada’s health care system has among the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world. These emissions represent up to 5% of the country’s total annual emissions. The Lancet Countdown data shows that per capita emissions from Canada’s health systems increased by 1.3% from 2018 to 2019, totaling 1,139 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per person, or approximately 9 million vehicles of tourism on the road every year.
By coming together to release a report, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Public Health Association hope that health authorities, medical professionals and policy makers can effect change .
Helen Boyd, RN
“I believe our nursing role is to advocate for equity for all the populations we serve,” said Helen Boyd, RN, RN and BC representative to the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment. Medscape Medical News.
“I spent a decade of my career working on the streets with the most marginalized populations who fell through the cracks of our health care system,” she said. “Following the floods and wildfires, I see with my own eyes how their profound suffering is compounded by extreme weather events induced by climate change. Now I choose to devote all my energy to climate justice and to planetary health.”
The report was published by the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Public Health Association. Lafontaine and Boyd did not disclose any relevant financial relationship.
Canadian Medical Association et al. Posted October 26, 2022. Full Text
Carolyn Crist is a health and medical journalist who reports on the latest studies for Medscape, MDedge, and WebMD.
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