An introduction to the network
The Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Network (GGHHN) is a worldwide community of hospitals, health care systems, and organizations dedicated to reducing the ecological footprint of health care operations, in order to promote environmental and public health. The Network is based on members' commitment to implement the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Agenda by developing more sustainable practices and by measuring progress over time. The GGHH community shares solutions and best practices. GGHH is a project of Health Care Without Harm.
The Issue
We face a public health crisis involving widespread human disease and death. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined environmental factors such as unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene, indoor and outdoor pollution, workplace hazards, industrial accidents, automobile accidents, climate change, poor land use practices, and poor natural resource management. We believe that these same environmental factors are the causes of our prevailing public health issues.
Climate change is expected to greatly contribute to these environmental factors, thus magnifying the incidence of disease and death. Diseases can become unpredictable, shelters can be rendered vulnerable, food and water can become scarce, there can very well be extreme climate events which could cause heat-related sickness and population migration.
As part of the health sector, we play a key role in reducing our own ecological footprint as we promote public environmental health.