Issue 11, April 2010

Climate Change

"The foundation of Medicine and its practice has been based upon a few profound principles. And though the Hippocratic Oath has often been modified to reflect the modernity of the age, the doctors who swore by it recognised the fundamental value of selflessness, sensibility and sacrifice.

Yet the inequity in 21st century global health care, the burden of non-communicable disease and issues in children’s, maternal and indigenous health would suggest that perhaps Hippocrates got it wrong.

Global health care now faces a challenge that seems to encompass all such issues: that of climate change."

This edition deals with Climate Change, an issue that has been on the political agenda leading up to the Copenhagen summit in Dec 2009. In the few months since then, we've wittnessed the devastation of earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Indonesia and Mexico, floods in Queensland, and a relentless 'dzud' (or drought) in Mongolia. To what extent these events are due to climate change may be debatable. What is strikingly clear however, is that we can no longer afford to ignore or delay discussion and action on this issue.

In this edition:

• Climate Change: Debunking the Debunkers
• A Very Good iDEA
• Carbon Footprint, Cultural Footprint: What you can do about climate change
• What’s In It For Us?: the public health benefits of climate change mitigation
• Health Eco-Evangelists put Record Straight
• Climate Fever
• International Health? Global Health? Public Health? Does it really matter what we call it?
• Global Health Network Update
• Creative Piece - Perspectives