Health systems ill-prepared for climatic changes

A television news broadcast
 of an impending heatwave

British health systems are unprepared for the “devastating” effects of climate change, leading health bodies have warned.

As extreme weather events such as flooding or heatwaves become more common, the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change urged ministers not to “wait for disaster” before acting.

The new alliance, made up of leading health bodies including royal colleges, medical faculties, medical publications and doctors’ organisations, called on the government to be “properly prepared”.

The group, launched on Wednesday, said the health service is ill-prepared for dealing with the effects of climate change such as the extreme weather seen this winter.

Read The Guardian story - “British health systems 'unprepared for devastating effects of climate change'.”

(Australia is not really prepared for any aspect of climate change, particularly the devastating impact it will have on our health systems.

Preparation for and adaptation to climate change, demands a “war-like” stance for the world community, something not seen since the world hitched-up its skirts, laced-up its boots and marched into World War Two. A peace-time health system was not up to the task, just as a pre-climate change health system will not be able to cope with demands from a human-disrupted climate system – Robert McLean.)

The UK Health Alliance wants public health emergency on climate change

The UK Health Alliance on Climate Change brings together the voices of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals within the UK to advocate for action to combat and prevent climate change, emphasising the substantial co benefits to health of tackling climate change in a fair and equitable way.

The founding members of the Alliance include a range of royal medical and nursing colleges, the Royal Society of Medicine, the British Medical Association, The Lancet, and The BMJ. They are coming together to communicate the relationship between health and climate change to government and the health profession.

To help achieve this, it is building a core secretariat, and is currently seeking applications for a motivated and professional individual with strong project management and communications skills to act as its Policy and Communications Officer. They will have a diverse range of responsibilities, including the implementation of the Alliance’s advocacy efforts, the execution of its external communications strategy, and the drafting of its policy and technical documents.

Read The BMJ (formerly The British Medical Journal) story - “The UK Health Alliance on Climate Change.”