The Lancet report highlights the urgent need for action in addressing climate change to protect human health. The projection is that climate change will cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths each year between 2030 and 2050 due to various health issues like malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. This will also result in direct health costs ranging from $2 billion to $4 billion annually by 2030. Health professionals have a crucial role to play in reducing these numbers by educating patients and addressing the adverse health effects of climate change-related challenges like extreme heat, floods, respiratory problems, premature births, and mental health issues.
During a live discussion on MedPage Today’s Instagram page on Monday, April 22 at 12:30 PM ET, experts will delve into practical strategies for mitigation and adaptation. They will emphasize how collective advocacy can drive policy change for a healthier and more resilient future. The panel will feature Jeremy Faust, MD as the moderator, Lisa Patel, MD, MESc as the executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and Elizabeth A. Cerceo, MD as an academic hospitalist responsible for Health and Public Policy for the American College of Physicians in the New Jersey chapter. Viewers are encouraged to submit their questions beforehand through comments on MedPage Today’s Instagram page.
The articles related to this discussion highlight the need for action in addressing climate change to protect human health. Topics range from standing up to big oil to advocating for farmworkers’ health to the impact of pathogens on public health. It is essential that clinicians focus on driving these initiatives forward by teaching climate change in medical schools and developing ICD codes for climate-linked health outcomes. With an estimated 250 thousand additional deaths due to climate-related illnesses within this decade alone; it is imperative that healthcare professionals take immediate action towards mitigating its harmful effects on human life and wellbeing
