Forwarded from the Global Climate and Health Alliance. Announcement and a comment from me below.
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Dear Colleague,
Future health workers will need to be well prepared to recognize and respond to the health risks and impacts of climate change. But many institutions do not yet include any climate change education in health worker's training, leaving tomorrow's nurses, doctors, allied health workers, pharmacists and public health practitioners under-prepared for the health risks of a warming planet.
The WHO-Civil Society Working Group has written an open letter calling on all health education stakeholders to incorporate climate change into health curricula and we are publicly launching the letter in just a few hours on June 9 from 14:00 - 15:00 CEST.
Register here to join us for the launch event https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LKlhiO1lSxusW6BBUShIJQ
My sincere apologies for the short notice nature of this invitation. If you are interested in learning more about the letter but are unable to join us, please register for the launch anyway and we will send you a link to the session recording when it is available.
We also invite you to commit to work to bring climate change into your own institution's teaching using this google form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScG4iWHo4PptWQ2dm7rrhz9GRyof0We...
Warm regards,
Jen Kuhl
Network and Engagement Lead, GCHA
P.S. Speakers for this event include:
Dr. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Head of the WHO Climate Unit
Dr. Jeni Miller, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance
Dr. Ying Zhang, Chair, Capacity Building Subcommittee, WHO-Civil Society Working Group on Climate and Health
Dr. Cecilia Sorensen, Director, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University
Lynne Madden, Professor of Population and Planetary Health, The University of Notre Dame Australia
Dr. Mayara Floss, Confederacion IberoAmericana de Medicina Familiar
Dr. Omnia El Omrani, Plastic Surgery Resident, Ain Shams University
Mohamed Eissa, International Federation of Medical Students Associations
Ying-Tsun Chen, International Pharmaceutical Students Federation
Register to join us on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LKlhiO1lSxusW6BBUShIJQ
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COMMENT: Yes, indeed. But what is even more important is that the general population in every country is aware of the dire health risks of climate change. In 2012 HIFA and the New York Law School demonstrated that governments worldwide have a legal obligation under international human rights law to ensure their citizens have access to the reliable information they need to protect their own health and the health of others. This clearly includes a public understanding of climate change and its impact on health. Sadly, the international community has allowed governments not only to ignore their responsibility, but also (in some countries) to actively undermine the science and contribution to dangerous misinformation. High-level political and financial commitment to universal access to reliable healthcare information is urgently needed and HIFA will continue to press for this.
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org
Working in official relations with WHO
