Speaker: Ann Furth, MD
Panelists: Ann Kurth, MD, Burce Nitsche, MD, Elizabeth Patterson, Tym Peters, Samantha Green, MD
Reported by: Holly Harris, MA, CE News Editorial Team
“On a morning like this in San Diego, doesn’t it remind you how lucky we are to live on this beautiful planet?” Dr. Kurth opened with this question, setting the tone for a moving and action inspiring plenary in which she effectively elucidated that relationship between climate change and health. Her talk highlighted four key lessons.
The climate crisis is happening now. Drawing upon data from the Six Americas Super Short Survey (Chryst et al., 2018), Dr. Kurth underscored the growing consensus on the need for action to address climate change. She proposed that our goal must be to reverse the trajectory of warming, ensuring that we remain below a 1.5-degree increase from pre-industrial levels (IPCC , 2018). Kurth highlighted that the next decade must be one of action.
The effects on the health of populations will be unprecedented. Kurth demonstrated that the climate crisis is a health crisis through various examples:
- Greenhouse gas from healthcare makes up five to eight percent of emissions
- One in five deaths around the world are attributable to air particulate pollution
The climate crisis crisis will cause an additional preventable 14.5 million deaths a year, and add around 12 and a half trillion dollars to economic losses by 2050 (Eitelwein et al., 2024).
Kurth emphasized the disparities in planetary health, revealing that the consequences are particularly severe in low-income countries, which ironically haven’t significantly contributed to greenhouse gas production compared to high-income countries. This underscores a profound health equity issue. Climate change not only worsens existing health problems but also introduces new ones and structurally vulnerable populations will bear the brunt of these impacts, being affected first and worst.
We can act. After illustrating the imminent impacts of climate change on health, Kurth conveyed a message of hope, underscoring that health professions educators possess the capacity to enact significant and meaningful change. She shared that there is a growing movement to integrate content regarding climate change and planetary health into pre-service curriculum, particularly for individuals entering the field of medicine. However, organizations like SACME have the opportunity to extend this effort to reach practitioners who are already active in their respective fields.
Health educators/professionals are key for mitigation and adaptation. Kurth proceeded to offer practical insights regarding key adaptation strategies to manage the health related impacts of climate change as well as mitigation strategies aimed at reducing emissions. Education was identified as a crucial intervention, serving both to help society adapt and mitigate change. In discussing climate change and healthcare, Kurth encouraged health educators and professionals to leverage their status as trusted individuals, retain optimism, and translate evidence into action. By embodying these principles,health educators and professionals can effectively address the intersection of climate change and health in their practice.
Dr. Kurth closed her presentation by inviting a group of panelists to share their experiences implementing planetary health education initiatives in their local contexts.
Dr. Bruce Nitsche discussed a collaborative effort aimed at addressing population health, wherein various organizations convened to explore educational opportunities in this domain. The resulting course, entitled Health in a Changing Climate: Understanding Impacts and Opportunities for Action, featured informative discussions on climate change’s political and health-related aspects, local impacts and disparities, personal testimonies from local doctors, and motivational discussions emphasizing the importance of engagement and advocacy in tackling climate-related health challenges.
Elizabeth Patterson discussed her experiences at The University of Virginia School of Nursing where they developed the Protecting Health in A Changing Climate program in response to a surge in asthma cases following Virginia’s hottest summer on record. The program featured a scientific overview of climate change, discussions on associated health impacts and disparities, and a panel presenting diverse approaches to addressing these challenges. Patterson discussed how the program has adapted to meet evolving needs and the changing discourse surrounding planetary health. She ended with a call to action and a message of hope. She emphasized the importance of celebrating small victories and fostering connections within communities to drive meaningful change. She ended with a powerful quote: “Start where you are, do what you can. We’re all in this together”.
Tymothi Peters shared the efforts that his continuing medical education office has undertaken in planning climate health education. The resulting program, The Health Emergency of Climate Change, featured an introduction to climate change related health emergencies as well as heat-related effects on the population, health, and associated emergency responses. Following the success of the initial offering, subsequent iterations focused on evolving public health strategies and the creation of action plans to effectively address climate-related health challenges.
The final panelist, Dr. Samantha Greene, provided insights gained from her experience working in planetary health. She emphasized the need for action-oriented initiatives that focus on solutions and highlight the health co-benefits of taking action. Greene stressed the importance of collective, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary efforts, and the value of integrating them into nature whenever possible. She discussed three planetary health education offerings she has been involved in. First, she highlighted Cascade’s free Introduction to sustainable health systems E-module, available on their website for health professionals. Second, she shared her experiences with Planetary Health Action, which offers the Taking Action on Planetary Health certificate program designed for individuals seeking in-depth knowledge and action-oriented training in planetary health. Last, she mentioned the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), which offers the Advocacy and Mobilization Program aimed at equipping health advocates, professional advocates, and physicians advocates to be voices for climate action in Canada.
Dr. Kurth’s captivating presentation, coupled with the panelists’ real-life examples of planetary health education initiatives, seamlessly bridged theory with practice. Their collective insights not only brought Kurth’s concepts to life but also offered practical ideas for integrating planetary health principles into various professional settings. The panel dedicated time to open discussion and reflections with the audience. The plenary concluded with a table exercise where participants were invited to reflect on the following questions. I encourage readers to do the same:
- What is one viable planetary health action you might be able to do, initiate, or build on, either in your workplace or as a challenge to SACME?
- What will get in the way?
- Who will be your allies?
- Who will be your supporters?
