This course is an initiative of the Portuguese Council for Health and Environment in partnership with the NOVA National School of Public Health aiming to increase awareness about the impact of environmental determinants on public health, and the most effective mitigation and adaptation measures, to make health systems resilient to these changes.
Our objective is to enable all health professionals, from students to decisionmakers, at a world level, to become more involved and to lead the common effort to ensure a future with a healthier and sustainable environment for healthcare services and its professionals contributing to reducing their impact.
On July 28, 2022, the United Nations decreed a new right, the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, however, we know, that it no longer exists. We have grown from one billion people to eight billion in 220 years and, since 1970, we have exceeded the planet’s capacity to regenerate. Nine out of ten children, globally, breathe air that exceeds the pollution limits established by the World Health Organization. The planet has already suffered a temperature increase of 1.2º C and 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded. In Canada, also in 2023, an area of forests equivalent to 17 million football fields has already burned. In Libya, 11,300 people died from floods. Currently, there are already 55 million people affected by drought and it is estimated that 75% of the world’s population could be affected by 2050. On average, 150 species become extinct daily, and one million species are at risk of extinction. If current policies do not change, the forecast is that the planet’s temperature will increase by 2.7º C in 2100. This is not catastrophism, it is reality, aggravated by the fact that we may already be surpassing points of no return, capable of causing a cascade of events, unpredictable and irreversible.
Warming is caused by the growing levels of greenhouse gas emissions: from 1970 to 2020 the emission of greenhouse gases doubled. Under the Paris Agreement, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 50% by 2030, relative to 2010 levels, to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial levels. On the other hand, it is known that the health sector is responsible for 4.4% of greenhouse gas emissions and must increase its resilience to face the current epidemiological transition and the greater risk of unexpected events.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said: “The era of global warming is over, we have entered the era of global ebullition”. Pope Francisco declared in the Apostolic Exhortation LAUDATE DEUM, on October 4th: “This world that welcomes us is falling apart and perhaps approaching a breaking point”. We live in the Anthropocene era, in which human action has an impact on the planet that can become uncontrollable.
Its consequences are already having a significant impact on people’s health, with environmental factors being responsible for a quarter of the global mortality. Cardio and cerebrovascular diseases, diarrhea, respiratory infections, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer are the most impacted diseases by these changes. It is estimated that more than five million deaths can be attributed to extreme temperatures. Diseases related to water quality and food safety are on the rise. The degradation of the environment and ecosystems is increasing migratory movements, conflicts, and mental illnesses. The increasingly frequent occurrence of cyclones, floods, droughts, and fires is the cause of many victims. The ecology of vector-borne diseases is also changing and the trend towards reducing the prevalence of these diseases, which we were achieving, is likely to reverse. Currently, these diseases, which include Malaria, Dengue, Zika, West Nile Virus infections, and Chikungunya, are already responsible for the deaths of around 800,000 people annually, globally. The risk of pandemics caused by zoonoses (diseases that animals transmit), which are responsible for almost 100% of pandemics, is increasing.
Health professionals, like all other citizens, do not have the right to compromise the future of the next generations, which are the generations of our children and grandchildren. In addition to being caregivers, we are also advocates for patients and enjoy a high level of trust from the public that we cannot discard. We have an ethical obligation to fight against climate change and environmental degradation. This includes advocating the adoption of measures that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental emissions, bringing together key health-related organizations to jointly intervene on the issues of climate change, environmental emissions, and their impact on health, identify and publish sustainable practices, promote awareness, education and research in this area, advocate the need for the health sector to reduce its ecological footprint and help the health system to be more resilient to the current epidemiological transition and the increased risk of unexpected events.
Despite the extreme importance of these topics, they have not yet been introduced into the pre- and post-graduate training of health professionals, in most countries. This course will introduce these themes to address this lack of awareness.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Human health professionals, animal health professionals and students, including doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, dentists, psychologists, nutritionists, health technicians, nurses, managers, and all other health-related professionals.
João Queiroz e Melo (CPSA) | Luis Campos (CPSA)
Marília Silva Paulo (NOVA NSPH) | Susana Viegas (NOVA NSPH)
A participation certificate will be issued to participants who attend more than 80% of the sessions. This course will also be accredited with 3 ECTS for those who wish to complete a final assessment.
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