scholarly journals 1.E. Workshop: Addressing vulnerability within climate change related health impacts

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vulnerable Population ◽  
Electrolyte Imbalance ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Health Vulnerability ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract   Climate change (CCh) is having an impact on people's health and health systems, directly and indirectly. Drastic and sudden changes in climatic conditions with heat waves and rapid temperature variations, an increased risk of floods, droughts and forest fires are some of the direct impacts related to CCh, with important consequences on health (e.g. heatstroke, electrolyte imbalance, kidney, respiratory as well as infectious related diseases) and mental well-being (e.g. stress and anxiety for an uncertain future). Some indirect effects include the alteration of natural ecosystems, changing vector patterns, air pollution and aeroallergens, or increased food insecurity. For certain sectors of the population and some regions, these direct and indirect impacts overlap with many other environmental and socioeconomic stressors (e.g. overcrowded megacities, poverty and poor nutrition, living in highly contaminated sites, increased dependence on a remote global market, growing gender and class inequalities), increasing the already large vulnerability of those affected populations. Low- and middle-income countries are under greater threat, but more developed economies can be- and in fact are- severely affected as well. This is of particular concern in relation to children together with the elderly, both considered the most vulnerable population groups affected by CCh as highlighted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Adverse effects of altered environments during fetal or child developmental stages can result in irreversible and long-lasting health sequelae; uncertainty and loss of control in the face of CCh can have mental health consequences. Gathering best scientific evidence-based information on current and future health threats related to CCh from the perspective of the most vulnerable population subgroups is essential for an effective preparedness of the public health system, and therefore for lessening or avoiding many of those health impacts by applying well-designed and innovative adaptation measures. Health vulnerability and adaptation assessments to CCh requires establishing partnerships among different scientific domains (e.g. public health experts, environmentalists, meteorologists, social scientists), and stakeholders, including community representatives and policy makers. Present workshop, with 3 presenters and one panellist, aims at analysing and sharing expertise on the following aspects: Approaches for characterising health and well-being vulnerability and adaptation measures in the context of CCh by integrating future climatic and socio-economic drivers. Analysis of children's health vulnerability in a CCh context. European initiatives for promoting multidisciplinary scientific evidence analysis, and the interconnection with the decision-making process for the development of innovative and effective adaptation programs that enables diminishing health vulnerability against CCh. Key messages Expanded efforts in the health impact assessment of vulnerable groups against growing risks from climate change is needed for developing effective public health adaptation and preparedness programs. Addressing climate change health vulnerability requires of gathering scientific evidence and collaboration from multiple sectors and stakeholders adapted to regional/local context.

Planetary Health, Climate Change, and Lifestyle Medicine: Threats and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
pp. 155982762110081
Author(s):  
Neha Pathak ◽  
Amanda McKinney
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Lifestyle Medicine ◽  
The Face ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

Global environmental degradation and climate change threaten the foundation of human health and well-being. In a confluence of crises, the accelerating pace of climate change and other environmental disruptions pose an additional, preventable danger to a global population that is both aging and carrying a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Climate change and environmental disruption function as “threat multipliers,” especially for those with NCDs, worsening the potential health impacts on those with suboptimal health. At the same time, these environmental factors threaten the basic pillars of health and prevention, increasing the risk of developing chronic disease. In the face of these threats, the core competencies of lifestyle medicine (LM) present crucial opportunities to mitigate climate change and human health impacts while also allowing individuals and communities to build resilience. LM health professionals are uniquely positioned to coach patients toward climate-healthy behavior changes that heal both people and the planet.

scholarly journals A Comparative Analysis of Climate-Risk and Extreme Event-Related Impacts on Well-Being and Health: Policy Implications

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Leal Filho ◽  
Abul Al-Amin ◽  
Gustavo Nagy ◽  
Ulisses Azeiteiro ◽  
Laura Wiesböck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Climate Risks ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mental Problems

There are various climate risks that are caused or influenced by climate change. They are known to have a wide range of physical, economic, environmental and social impacts. Apart from damages to the physical environment, many climate risks (climate variability, extreme events and climate-related hazards) are associated with a variety of impacts on human well-being, health, and life-supporting systems. These vary from boosting the proliferation of vectors of diseases (e.g., mosquitos), to mental problems triggered by damage to properties and infrastructure. There is a great variety of literature about the strong links between climate change and health, while there is relatively less literature that specifically examines the health impacts of climate risks and extreme events. This paper is an attempt to address this knowledge gap, by compiling eight examples from a set of industrialised and developing countries, where such interactions are described. The policy implications of these phenomena and the lessons learned from the examples provided are summarised. Some suggestions as to how to avert the potential and real health impacts of climate risks are made, hence assisting efforts to adapt to a problem whose impacts affect millions of people around the world. All the examples studied show some degree of vulnerability to climate risks regardless of their socioeconomic status and need to increase resilience against extreme events.

Dispersal of the Mosquito Aedes vigilax (Diptera: Culicidae) From Urban Estuarine Wetlands in Sydney, Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 1290-1295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron E Webb ◽  
Richard C Russell
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Mosquito Control ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Release Point ◽  
Estuarine Wetlands ◽  
Aedes Vigilax ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Sydney Australia

Abstract Aedes vigilax (Skuse) is a pest and vector species associated with coastal wetlands and the abundance of this mosquito has been identified as contributing to increased risk of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks. As urban development continues to encroach on these coastal wetlands, pest and public health impacts are becoming of increasing concern and in the absence of broadscale mosquito control. Urban planners are looking to buffer zones and other land use planning options to minimize contact between mosquitoes and humans but gaps in the understanding of dispersal ranges of mosquitoes hamper the adoption of these strategies. A mark-release-recapture experiment was conducted to measure the dispersal of this mosquito from an urban estuarine wetland in Sydney, Australia. An estimated total of over 150,000 wild caught female mosquitoes were marked with fluorescent dust and then released. A network of 38 traps was then operated for 5 d within an area of 28 km2. A total of 280 marked mosquitoes was recaptured, representing less than 1% of the estimate 250,000 marked mosquitoes released. Marked mosquitoes were recaptured up to 3 km from the release point, providing an insight into the dispersal range of these mosquitoes. The mean distance traveled by marked mosquitoes was 0.83 km, a result reflecting the greater proportion of marked mosquitoes recaptured near release point. The findings of this study indicate that effective buffer zones between estuarine wetlands and high-density urban developments would be an impractical approach to minimizing pest and public health impacts associated with this mosquito.

scholarly journals Public health impacts of an imminent Red Sea oil spill

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Q. Huynh ◽  
Laura H. Kwong ◽  
Mathew V. Kiang ◽  
Elizabeth T. Chin ◽  
Amir M. Mohareb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Sea Ports ◽  
Oil Tanker ◽  
Urgent Action

AbstractThe possibility of a massive oil spill in the Red Sea is increasingly likely. The Safer, a deteriorating oil tanker containing 1.1 million barrels of oil, has been deserted near the coast of Yemen since 2015 and threatens environmental catastrophe to a country presently in a humanitarian crisis. Here, we model the immediate public health impacts of a simulated spill. We estimate that all of Yemen’s imported fuel through its key Red Sea ports would be disrupted and that the anticipated spill could disrupt clean-water supply equivalent to the daily use of 9.0–9.9 million people, food supply for 5.7–8.4 million people and 93–100% of Yemen’s Red Sea fisheries. We also estimate an increased risk of cardiovascular hospitalization from pollution ranging from 5.8 to 42.0% over the duration of the spill. The spill and its potentially disastrous impacts remain entirely preventable through offloading the oil. Our results stress the need for urgent action to avert this looming disaster.

5. Climate change impacts

2014 ◽  
pp. 68-97
Author(s):  
Mark Maslin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Coastal Cities ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Dangerous Climate Change ◽  
Water And Food Security

What is dangerous climate change? What is our coping range? ‘Climate change impacts’ assesses the potential effects of climate change on the natural environment as well as on human societies and our economies. Climate change impacts will increase significantly as global temperature rises. Climate change will affect the return period and severity of floods, droughts, heat waves, and storms. Coastal cities and towns will be especially vulnerable as sea-level rise will worsen the effects of floods and storm surges. Water and food security and public health will become the most important problems facing all countries. Climate change also threatens global biodiversity and the well being of billions of people.

scholarly journals Deregulation and the Assault on Science and the Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Samet ◽  
Thomas A. Burke
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Environmental Pollution ◽  
Reasoned Action ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research To Policy ◽  
Health And Well Being

The quality of the environment is a major determinant of the health and well-being of a population. The role of scientific evidence is central in the network of laws addressing environmental pollution in the United States and has been critical in addressing the myriad sources of environmental pollution and the burden of disease attributable to environmental factors. We address the shift away from reasoned action and science to a reliance on belief and document the efforts to separate regulation from science and to remove science-based regulations and policies intended to protect public health. We outline the general steps for moving from research to policy, show how each has been undermined, offer specific examples, and point to resources that document the enormity of the current efforts to set aside scientific evidence.

scholarly journals The Public Health Implications of Brexit in Wales: A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Green
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health And Social Care

Abstract On March 29th 2019, the United Kingdom was due to exit the European Union (EU) in a process known informally as ‘Brexit’. The 2 years before this time (and ongoing) experienced a period of unprecedented political and social upheaval with many unknowns and much uncertainty attached to the outcomes and future impact of withdrawal and transitionary period. Public Health Wales commissioned the Wales Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Support Unit to carry out a HIA of Brexit in Wales to assess the potential impact, extent and nature of ‘Brexit’ on health and wellbeing in Wales which would to inform its planning, future work and support other bodies decision-making, planning and policymaking. A comprehensive HIA was conducted over a 6 month period in 2018/19, steered by a Strategic Advisory Group. Methods included; a literature review; stakeholder workshop; interviews with policy leads, a community health profile, and report with evidence synthesis. Trade agreements, economic impacts, changing relationships with EU agencies, uncertainty and loss of regulatory alignment were key pathways for health impacts to occur. Potential impacts included; food standards/safety; environmental regulations; working conditions; and health and social care. Many impacts will affect the whole population. Vulnerable populations included; children/young people; those at risk of unemployment;Welsh areas receiving significant EU funding. Potential indirect impacts were identified on mental well-being. Brexit has the potential to impact significantly on the determinants of health.The HIA has informed and influenced cross-sector planning and policy in response to the short/long-term implications of Brexit to ensure that health and inequalities are considered at every juncture.This unique work demonstrates continued leadership by Wales in the field of impact assessment and ‘health in policies’ and has been positively received. It has transferable learnings for many nation states and health policy leads. Key messages Brexit is a major policy change with major health impacts. HIA is an informative and influencing process to support planning and future policy making.

Communicating the Public Health Risks of Climate Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda R. Weathers ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Matthew Nisbet
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Health Community ◽  
Health Organizations ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
Health And Well Being

Effective public communication and engagement have played important roles in ameliorating and managing a wide range of public health problems including tobacco and substance use, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, vaccine preventable diseases, sudden infant death syndrome, and automobile injuries and fatalities. The public health community must harness what has been learned about effective public communication to alert and engage the public and policy makers about the health threats of climate change. This need is driven by three main factors. First, people’s health is already being harmed by climate change, and the magnitude of this harm is almost certain to get much worse if effective actions are not soon taken to limit climate change and to help communities successfully adapt to unavoidable changes in their climate. Therefore, public health organizations and professionals have a responsibility to inform communities about these risks and how they can be averted. Second, historically, climate change public engagement efforts have focused primarily on the environmental dimensions of the threat. These efforts have mobilized an important but still relatively narrow range of the public and policy makers. In contrast, the public health community holds the potential to engage a broader range of people, thereby enhancing climate change understanding and decision-making capacity among members of the public, the business community, and government officials. Third, many of the actions that slow or prevent climate change, and that protect human health from the harms associated with climate change, also benefit health and well-being in ways unrelated to climate change. These “cobenefits” to societal action on climate change include reduced air and water pollution, increased physical activity and decreased obesity, reduced motor-vehicle–related injuries and death, increased social capital in and connections across communities, and reduced levels of depression. Therefore, from a public health perspective, actions taken to address climate change are a “win-win” in that in addition to responsibly addressing climate change, they can help improve public health and well-being in other ways as well. Over the past half decade, U.S.-based researchers have been investigating the factors that shape public views about the health risks associated with climate change, the communication strategies that motivate support for actions to reduce these risks, and the practical implications for public health organizations and professionals who seek to effectively engage individuals and their communities. This research serves as a model for similar work that can be conducted across country settings and international publics. Until only recently, the voices of public health experts have been largely absent from the public dialogue on climate change, a dialogue that is often erroneously framed as an “economy versus the environment” debate. Introducing the public health voice into the public dialogue can help communities see the issue in a new light, motivating and promoting more thoughtful decision making.

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