Mainstreaming climate change in public health
“As doctors, we have the responsibility to heal,” said Dr. Carol N. Montano, President of PCP-SL. “We do this by taking care of our patients. But there is so much more we can do. We need to address many facets of a health care setting to reduce its climate footprint.”
Health care is among the most energy intensive industry. It uses twice as much energy per square foot as traditional office space.
In the forum, Health Care Without Harm President and Founder Gary Cohen presented the ten goals of a Global Green and Healthy Hospitals. These include hospital leadership that prioritizes environmental health, substitution of harmful chemicals with safer alternatives, reduction/treatment/safe disposal of health care waste, energy efficiency, waste water treatment, green transportation, sustainable food, safe management and disposal of pharmaceuticals, green buildings, and green purchasing. Organized around this agenda, the GGHH Network is a conglomeration of hospitals, health systems, and health organizations committed to implementing the ten goals, reducing their ecological footprint and promoting environmental health.
“Health care systems around the globe are helping to turn the debate of climate change from a political argument to a public health concern,” said Cohen. “With doctors and nurses in the forefront, this will happen in the Philippines and in the Asia region.”
In 2011, PCP National and Southern Luzon chapters adopted HCWH-Asia’s BURN NOT campaign committing to encourage all its members to prevent move by the government to revive burning of medical wastes.
“This year PCP-SL is committing to work together in bringing the issue of climate change in the radar of the health care practitioners,” said Montano.
Cohen is an advocate and pioneer in environmental health movement for the last thirty years and was recently named Champion of Change in the category of Climate and Health by the U.S. White House. Cohen is in the country for the Green Hospitals Asia Conference sponsored by HCWH. Earlier today, Cohen met with the chair of the Senate Committees on Environment and Natural Resources and Climate Change Sen. Loren Legarda to discuss mainstreaming of climate change issue as a public health concern.