HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK NEWSLETTER JULY 2009
This is a fulcrum year for health and climate change. Mitigation and adaptation are now core business in health organisations, as the business case – including saving money – becomes ever clearer. Sustainability credentials are beginning to be seen as a key part of good governance.
On the international advocacy front, the momentum is building to ensure that the health voice is heard loud and clear at the critical UN negotiations in Copenhagen in December, with HEAL (the Health and Environment Alliance) and Healthcare Without Harm, amongst others, playing leading roles through the EU and WHO.
It is now three years since we launched this network. We were one of the first networks to form, but several other organisations and groups have now been formed and are mentioned in this newsletter, including the Climate Connection, the Campaign for Greener Healthcare and the Climate and Health Council – and of course the NHS Sustainable Development Unit. Whilst we all communicate well with each other, it is difficult for busy practitioners to keep in touch with the work of so many groups and the benefits of integrated infrastructure are obvious. We are therefore holding discussions with a view to some consolidation, and will let you know the outcome in our next newsletter. We want to build on our network’s strengths, which we believe include a focus on public health in its broadest sense and regular and straightforward communication. We also think there is a need to enable people to come together to share ideas and inspiration. Please send us your views!
Here are our key news items for information and action from the last couple of months.
1. OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NHS TO SCREEN WITHOUT COST THE FILM “THE AGE OF STUPID”
Staff across the whole of the NHS will be able to see the film “The Age of Stupid” <http://www.ageofstupid.net/> for free. This has been organised by The Climate and Health Council, the Campaign for Greener Healthcare and the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, who have fund-raised to cover the cost of the licence fee.
To find out more and why this agenda has real significance for you and the NHS, please log on to a panel discussion on 7 July chaired by Fiona Godlee, editor of the British Medical Journal. Fiona and other leading figures will be discussing the impact of the environmental film and how much the NHS has to gain from taking climate change seriously. The panel discussion will be followed by a brief Q&A session.
Date: 7th July 2009 Time: 13.00 Duration: 30 minutes
How do I take part?<http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=59903>
All you need to do to take part in this event is register your attendance by clicking here<http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=59903> . Feel free to forward this invitation to your friends and colleagues in the NHS but please ensure that you register <http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=59903> by 5pm on 3 July as places are limited.
2. FACULTY OF PUBLIC HEALTH GUIDE SUSTAINING A HEALTHY FUTURE – 2nd edition, special focus on the NHS
The Faculty of Public Health (in association with the NHS Sustainable Development Unit and the NHS Confederation) has just published a new edition of its handbook, Sustaining a Healthy Future – Taking action on climate change. Its contents range from individual action plans encouraging recycling and walking, to step-by-step checklists on how to integrate realistic carbon-reduction measures into organisation-wide strategies and policies. The handbook aims to show that sustainable management, working and living is an achievable objective across NHS hospitals, clinics and practices
http://www.fph.org.uk/resources/sustainable_development/sustaining_a_healthy_future_NHS.asp
The handbook was launched at the Faculty of Public Health’s annual conference in Scarborough. It has been endorsed by 23 individuals and organisations and has a statement by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
3. NEW UK CLIMATE PROJECTIONS
The Government has launched cutting-edge projections of the UK climate, including information on temperature and rainfall up to the end of the century. The projections will help organisations plan for our changing climate and will be key to assessing impacts such as heat waves or flooding and making adaptation decisions.
The information can be used to consider the impacts of the changing climate in medium and long-term planning. For details of free support please email:
4. LANCET AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH COMMISSION REPORT, MANAGING THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, LANCET, 2009, 373, 1693-1733
“Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Effects of climate change on health will affect most populations in the next decades and put the lives and wellbeing of billions of people at increased risk.” This important report (lead author Professor Anthony Costello) is commended and can be found at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0905/09051501
A Task Force on Climate Change Mitigation and Public Health, led by a consortium of funding bodies co-ordinated by the Wellcome Trust, with the strong involvement of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will report in time for the UN Copenhagen negotiations.
5. THE TRANSITION TOWN MOVEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH
The Transition Town movement was founded in 2007 and has grown rapidly in the last two years in the UK and around the world. Its aims are to ensure that communities become as resilient as possible to the impacts of both climate change and peak oil. Communities usually develop initiatives to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, get as many people as possible involved in growing food and supporting local food producers, and encourage re-use of goods and materials. The health benefits are obvious, as Transition Towns improve individual and community mental health and well-being, and contribute to the reduction of obesity and its health impacts. Pete Redwood, the Chair of Sustainable Scarborough, spoke at the Faculty of Public Health conference in Scarborough. Transition Towns can be seen as a public health movement and public health teams can make a strong contribution to them.
Angela Raffle, Consultant in Public Health and Bristol Primary Care Trust, has been involved with the Transition initiative Sustainable Redland for many years, and more recently with the Bristol-wide transition initiative. She has prepared a presentation which we have uploaded onto our website, www.healthandsustainability.net , which contains a link to a video interview with Angela at the national Transition conference.
For more information on the Transition Town movement, including a list of recognised TTs, go to http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork
6. PLEASE SIGN THE CLIMATE AND HEALTH COUNCIL PLEDGE
The Climate and Health Council has launched a global campaign to maximise support from health professionals and is urging them to sign the pledge that "urgent government-led international action on climate change is essential to the health and survival of this and future generations". The aim of the campaign is to help guide the position of UK, European, and other Governments in the post-Kyoto framework discussions (COP 15) in Copenhagen December 2009. Many thousands of health professionals have already signed up, but many more signatures are needed. Please urge your colleagues and friends to sign.
Please sign the Climate and Health Council Pledge by clicking here <http://www.climateandhealth.org/pledge>
7. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION’S “BREAKTHROUGHS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY”
Jenny Griffiths went to this event to launch the above report, see http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=972 . It was also a farewell for Jonathon Porritt. It was a high profile event attended by Jonathan Dimbleby, Anna Ford, Rosie Boycott, and HRH Prince of Wales amongst others. The health breakthrough is increasing the spend on prevention/public health from 4% of the total to 20%, reminiscent of Wanless, and related to the need to wean ourselves off high-tech treatment if we are to reduce the health care carbon footprint by 80%.
7. SUSTRANS WINS THE BRONZE MEDAL IN THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER’S PUBLIC HEALTH AWARDS.
Congratulations Sustrans from the Health and Sustainability network. Click here for information about the winners.
8. THE CAMPAIGN FOR GREENER HEALTHCARE NEW NEWSLETTER www.greenerhealthcare.org.
Items of interest include
Muir Gray calls for direct action on Climate Change
"Climate change is the cholera of our era" said Sir Muir Gray writing in the Times on Monday 25th May. Sir Muir suggested that "just as doctors led the Victorian campaign, so the medical profession should be in the vanguard of this new revolution in public health." The article has stirred up a debate about the role of the medical profession in fighting climate change - to see the article and comments on the Times website click here.
NHS Forest - 1.3 million trees
A few weeks ago, I was appointed by Greener Healthcare to coordinate the NHS Forest programme. My main task is to ensure that the health trusts which have already expressed an interest in the pilot phase will be planting trees before the end of the year. This will encourage more partners to become engaged in the project’s main phase. The aim is that in 20 years time there will be one tree planted per NHS employee, an impressive 1.3 million trees! See www.greenerhealthcare.org/nhs-forest for more details. Sarah Dandy
Carbon Dependence: New Medical Syndrome Identified
The recent discovery of Carbon Dependence as a medical syndrome is producing shock waves in the health community! Addiction to carbon-based fuels is now thought to underpin many of the big health burdens of our day, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and depression. However, although extremely serious, carbon dependence has been found to be eminently treatable, and guidance on diagnosis (e.g. bank account biopsy) and management (including novel surgical techniques) is now available at www.carbonaddict.org.
Best wishes Alison and Jenny