In September 2021, a few weeks before the Climate Conference (COP26) in the United Kingdom, BMJ Global Health joined more than 200 other medical and public health journals to note that “the greatest threat to global public health is the continued failure of world leaders to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C and […]
Category: Climate change
The climate health crisis: A call to the medical community
When I started practicing as an internal medicine physician years ago, I had many thoughts about what my future in patient care might hold. I can confidently say that flying to Egypt for the international climate conference COP27 was not one of them! And yet, mid-career, I found myself in Sharm El-Sheikh, encountering images […]
At COP27: Address the health impacts of climate change, focus on local solutions
For many years, addressing climate change has largely hinged on macro-level government policies and market-driven approaches to halt emissions. While societal and economic shifts remain critical, we increasingly recognize the present, life-altering impacts of climate change on every aspect of life from food security and water access to health risks and economic challenges. Climate […]
Planetary health care and Barbara Starfield´s legacy
Barbara Starfield advanced academic scholarship on the role of primary care in health systems and universal health coverage. Her research on equity contributed to evidence-informed health policymaking1. On June 10th 2021, we commemorate her 10th death anniversary. Starfield described four attributes of primary care- first contact, continuity of care, comprehensiveness, and coordination – and […]
The Ethical Dilemma of Conducting Research & the Inevitable Environmental Footprint
Last summer I had the opportunity to work with a team studying the correlation between climate change, migration, and health systems resilience and while doing so recognized several challenges regarding eco-conscious research practices. The issue at hand is that many researchers do not conceptualize their work through the lens of sustainability. It is a […]
Disruption as an opportunity: giving rise to a global ethos for planetary health
Life as we know it has, for millions of people around the globe, been put on-hold because of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic. Positive consequences so far recorded include unpolluted skies, cleaner waterways and thriving wildlife.1 Meanwhile, some richer nations have begun to question their socio-economic priorities. This is an opportunity to think carefully how we […]
COVID-19: Opportunities for cities to advance planetary health
COVID-19 is a stark reminder of the deep interconnections between natural systems and human health. For decades, scientists have raised concerns about urban sprawl changing natural ecosystems and increasing contact between animal species and humans: the perfect scenario for a zoonosis. Add to the mix characteristics associated with cities, such as air pollution, high […]
COVID-19: Reimagining the political economy of planetary health
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic gives the new field of planetary health a unique chance to prove itself. Since the Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission report’s release in 2015 (1), planetary health has been met by a mixture of both excitement and skepticism. Young scholars from diverse disciplines are energized by the idea of transdisciplinary collaboration for […]
Challenges for climate change research: interdisciplinarity, evidence use & carbon footprint
Recently, on the occasion of the ambitious Franco-German Make Our Planet Great Again program, I was able to set up an international research team to try to understand the relationship between climate change, population mobilities and health systems. Our project will take place in two of the countries most affected by population mobility induced […]
“Science is everywhere, let’s keep it that way.” Increasing threats to science both in the North and South: some responses
By Sara Ardila-Gómez (Emerging Voices for Global Health, 2014, Argentina) & Kati Wilkins (Emerging Voices for Global Health, 2016, United States of America) Over the last months, quite a few governments from both Northern and Southern countries have turned their backs on science by questioning its value, importance, and contribution to human and planetary sustainable […]