9 NON-CLINICAL SETTING: PUBLIC HEALTH
Answers Possible answers: 1 See notes on previous page. 2 The Cornell note-taking system. 3 It’s important to know how to make good notes.
4 To find out about how the public health sector in the student’s particular country is dealing with the effects of climate change on the nation’s health.
5/6 See notes. Note: The summary here is concerned with the section on the responsibility of the population as a whole in resolving the impacts of climate change on health.
Transcript≤2.13 Part 3
OK, so moving on to look at some of the ways public health authorities are dealing with issues related to the effects of climate change on health.
Let’s begin then with looking at who is
responsible. In effect, we all have a role to play in combating the negative effects of climate change on our health. Individuals and businesses can take their own steps in reducing the burning of fossil fuels for example. National and local governments can enforce policies as well as put money into the assessment of health risks, early warning systems and plans for handling extreme weather. Public health practitioners are undoubtedly key players in this scenario, however. They can be working on improving primary healthcare for the vulnerable, taking measures to monitor health, and introducing better disease surveillance and disaster preparedness and vaccination, not to mention improving public education.
So let’s look in a bit more detail at what is being
done in the UK, as an example. One initiative is the heatwave plan that was introduced in 2004. The ‘heat-health watch’ operates from 1st June to 15 September each year and highlights responsibilities for health and social services once a heatwave has been identified – in the UK that’s a temperature of 30°C during the day. Primary care trusts are required to issue advice to occupants and staff of residential homes for the elderly and help identify individuals most at risk from extreme heat. Meanwhile, public health regional directors are required to work with utility companies to maintain water and power supplies in affected areas.
Surveillance and control of infectious diseases is
another priority. In 2002, a strategy was published for tackling infectious diseases. One of the outcomes was the increase in funding to improve diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control of infectious disease – be they water-, vector- or food-borne
diseases. Providing clear advice and information is also crucial. The public needed to be more aware of the risks of infectious diseases and health professionals needed to be educated in recognizing and treating rare diseases that may appear more frequently as a result of climate change.
By the way, I see that some of you are using the
Cornell note-taking system. That’s very good. Do you all know about this? No? Right, well, if you want to know more about it, I suggest you look at How to study in college by Walter Pauk, the 9th edition, published in 2007. It’s very good, and it should be in the university library. I’m sure that you all know the importance of taking good notes – and this system is particularly useful.
So to get back to the main topic … in other areas
campaigns to increase public awareness have been implemented in an attempt to influence people’s behaviour. These include information on early flood warnings and campaigns such as ‘UK Sun Smart’ on the risks of UV exposure.
In terms of health infrastructure in the country,
public health authorities need to ensure they are able to cope with the predicted increased frequency of extreme events. This can be done by upping the number of specialists required in these areas of healthcare. The UK government has recognized the need to improve healthcare provision for those at- risk groups such as the elderly, the very young and the sick.
On a global level, the idea of the developed world
helping the developing world has also been discussed. The UK definitely has a role to play in minimizing health impacts in developing countries, by improving healthcare provision through the training of healthcare professionals and relieving poverty.
OK, so now we can see that consideration of
health impacts is a fairly recent development in the climate change debate, but one thing is certain – there exists a global responsibility. In fact, as Dr Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association points out in Principles of Public Health Medicine (one of your core texts – the 3rd edition was published in 2006); rich countries have a special responsibility towards the developing world. Not only does the developing world emit the least greenhouse gases, it also possesses the fewest resources with which to cope with public health problems. One definition of public health given by
thefreedictionary.com on the web is: ‘the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organization, public and private, communities and
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