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NHS 'must tackle climate change'

22/01/2008

Healthcare workers and the NHS must lead the way in combating the effects of climate change, a new guide says today.

The Faculty of Public Health (FPH), which published the guide, said the health service could "provide a powerful example for other organisations to follow".

Its call has been backed by 19 environmental and health organisations, including the NHS Confederation and the Local Government Association.

As well as helping the environment, the FPH guide says targeting climate change will benefit the health service in the long-term.

Climate change implications for public health include heat-related summer deaths, outbreaks of vector-borne disease and the consequences of severe weather events such as flooding.

FPH president Professor Alan Maryon Davis said the "health sector can really show the way".

"We are facing a global public health catastrophe - and as a public health and healthcare community we must work together, using our collective knowledge, skills and networks, to reduce its impact and lead the change to a healthy, sustainable future.

"Climate change is not only the single most important public health issue of the 21st century, but it also links to many others, including health inequalities, emergency planning, communicable diseases and obesity."

Jenny Griffiths, a co-author of the guide, said "there is plenty" the NHS can do to reduce the effects of climate change, including carrying out a carbon audit and making sure environmental impact assessments become part of all activities.

"We in the health service are in a unique position to use the NHS' immense influence and purchasing power to lead by example," she added.

"If we do not act now, the consequences are unthinkable."