Episode 39: It’s Everyone’s Prob­lem! The Impact of Cli­mate Change in Healthcare

The chang­ing cli­mate is an exis­ten­tial threat and described by the UN Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al as a ​‘code red for human­i­ty’. Aus­tralia is one of the coun­tries on the front­lines of cli­mate-health impacts, includ­ing increas­ing in extreme weath­er events, changes in infec­tious dis­eases pat­terns, and food and water secu­ri­ty. These impacts will place unprece­dent­ed pres­sure on our health sys­tem and are exac­er­bat­ing exist­ing health inequities, with vul­ner­a­ble groups and rur­al com­mu­ni­ties most affect­ed. The health­care sec­tor alone is respon­si­ble for almost 5% of glob­al green­house gas emis­sions and if it were a coun­try, it would be the fifth largest pol­luter on Earth. Under a ​‘busi­ness as usu­al’ sce­nario, emis­sions from health­care could triple between now and 2050.
Join Kim­ber­ly to hear why the respon­si­bil­i­ty to address the impact of cli­mate change in health­care rests not with just a few but every­one who works in it!
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