EDITOR’S CHOICE 2017 #NPHW and Beyond: Climate Changes Health

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here is wide scientific consensus that climate change is anthropogenic. A majority of the American society believes climate change is happening—with nearly half of Americans rating it as a major threat to our health. We also know that there are sound policy and practice solutions that can reduce or eliminate the health impacts of climate change. Tragically, there is a small but highly vocal group of policymakers who are, for a variety of self-interests and ideologies, not supportive of these facts. This, coupled with a public that has not yet organized for action to demand we address this threat, is why the public health community is now taking this issue head on to serve in our role as chief health strategists for the nation. Although no one is immune from experiencing the health impacts of climate change, certain groups—including children, the elderly, the underserved, and minority communities—are less climate resilient and therefore more vulnerable to the negative health effects of climate change. Communities can improve resilience by addressing the social determinants of health (such as poverty, educational level, social capital, and access to health care). But that alone is not enough. Communities must also implement specific mitigation measures critical to reducing vulnerability (http://bit.ly/2lkvPnp). Those working in the climate change space seek to increase the public’s sense of urgency for addressing climate change, while also broadening and diversifying the movement that is working to address it. Many also aim to depoliticize the issue, which has become politically polarizing to the point of stalling progress. The American Public Health Association (APHA) is moving to elevate climate change and health as a higher national priority with broad political and social support. To this end, APHA has declared 2017 the Year of Climate Change and Health. By working closely with interested partners, APHA will

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work to raise awareness of the health impacts of climate change among our members and partners, as well as to mobilize our partners to take action to reduce or lessen the health consequences of climate change. We will also reach out to the general public to help them better understand the issues and organize them to demand action. Each month, APHA and our partners will celebrate a climate change and health theme to promote awareness of the issues, encourage cross-sectoral partnerships, and translate research into practice or policy. The themes this year are climate change and health, climate justice, clean energy, transportation and healthy community design, air quality and respiratory and cardiovascular health, mental wellness and resilience, children and climate change, water quality, agriculture and food safety, extreme weather, tribal and indigenous health, and cobenefits. Through the Year of Climate Change and Health, we hope to inspire our nation to address the urgent challenges of climate change. We are clear that we have a responsibility to ourselves, our families and future generations yet unborn to protect the environment in which we live. This quest will help us to improve the public’s health and promotes health equity, which is in keeping with our goal of making America the healthiest nation in one generation. Visit apha.org/climate to learn more about how you can get involved and how to sign up to become a partner. Georges C. Benjamin, MD Executive Director American Public Health Association doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303739

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YEARS AGO

Should President Reagan Be Indicted for Betraying Public Health? As President Carter’s Surgeon General, Dr. Julius Richmond set 15 priorities in health promotion, health protection and preventive health services. . . . The Reagan Administration’s attack on each one of Dr. Richmond’s priorities . . . is the real test of this President’s public health policies. . . . [For example], maternal and child health programs have been relegated to a block grant with funding down over 25 per cent. Medicaid eligibility … has also trimmed. . . . [H]ow can anyone believe that the Reagan Administration wishes to prevent disease or promote health or preserve public health in America? From AJPH, January 1983

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YEARS AGO

President George W. Bush and the Erosion of Public Health, Safety, and Environmental Protection On January 18, 2007, President Bush quietly issued Executive Order 13422 on regulatory planning and review. The new executive order requires an agency to identify a “specific market failure” before it can assess whether or not to regulate. This requirement essentially shifts the statutory intent away from public health, safety, or environmental protection, substituting executive authority for legislative authority found in such statutes as the Clean Air Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act. . . . Far from shielding agency science from political interference, these new amendments may further erode the role of science and agency scientists in the regulatory process. From AJPH, November 2007

AJPH

May 2017, Vol 107, No. 5

2017 #NPHW and Beyond: Climate Changes Health.

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