The British Medical Journal called on the World Health Organization today to declare a public health emergency. Not because of any specific disease, but because climate change will cause an additional 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, by the WHO's own estimate.
"WHO has shown important leadership on climate change but
has stopped short of declaring a global public health emergency," writes
BMJ editor-in-chief Fiona Godlee, in an editorial. But the evidence that climate
change poses a "threat to human health and survival" is strong, she
writes, and it's time to act.
Dwindling fresh water supplies, increased soil erosion, heat
stress, malnutrition, malaria and extreme weather will have catastrophic
effects on human health, if humanity doesn't act fast. The BMJ therefore hopes
to change attitudes within the healthcare system, which is itself "a major emitter of greenhouse gases," Godlee
writes, due to the amount of waste it produces and the energy it consumes.
doctors should "become effective advocates against climate
change."
To get the point across, the journal published a climate change guide in
early September that addressed itself to doctors, but did not contain
information about medicine or healthcare. Instead, the guide answered questions
such as "Is global warming unequivocally the result of human
activity?" (answer: for the most part, yes), and "What will future
climate change be like?" (answer: further and more drastic changes are
expected). The guide also called on health professionals to explain climate
change to their patients in terms of its health consequences.
It’s "pure climate science," Godlee says,
"because if we doctors are to become effective advocates against climate
change, a better understanding of the science will help us."
Given the Ebola crisis, it's
understandable that WHO has yet to declare a public health emergency, Godlee
writes. But it shouldn't put this off any longer. "Deaths from Ebola
infection, tragic and frightening though they are, will pale into
insignificance when compared with the mayhem we can expect for our children and
grandchildren if the world does nothing to check its carbon emissions." So
if we truly want to prevent such a catastrophe, she writes, "action is needed
now."
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