Climate change and health [1]

摘要

The Lancet Commission on Climate Change calls on health professionals to mobilise and lead against climate change, as they have before against health threats such as tobacco and HIV/AIDs. However, shortfalls in current undergraduate curricula may mean tomorrow's doctors are ill-equipped to lead in this area. We agree that health professionals are uniquely placed to communicate to the public the detrimental health effects of climate change and the benefits of mitigation. However, health professionals also require a good knowledge base to be trusted advocates. Unlike the effects of smoking or HIV/AIDS, the health effects of a changing climate do not feature strongly in medical school curricula. Surveys have indicated that only six of 33 UK medical schools teach climate and health topics, and only one institution includes these topics as core teaching. A high demand for global health teaching is found among medical students internationally, One frequent question is how best to integrate climate and health topics into the already crowded undergraduate curricula. Free resources such as Sustainable Healthcare Education, and BMJ E-Learning are good examples of how integrated case-based teaching could work. We call on medical schools, The General Medical Council, and the Royal Colleges to incorporate climate and health topics into undergraduate and postgraduate education. Tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century, but only if we equip tomorrow's health professionals with the knowledge to take up their role as advocates and leaders.