AMA: Climate change is a public health crisis

Climate change is a public health crisis threatening the well-being of all people, the AMA declared via a policy it adopted during the annual meeting of its House of Delegates.

“The scientific evidence is clear: our patients are already facing adverse health effects associated with climate change, from heat-related injuries, vector-borne diseases and air pollution from wildfires, to worsening seasonal allergies and storm-related illness and injuries. Like the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis will disproportionately impact the health of historically marginalized communities,” Ilse R. Levin, DO, MPH, an AMA board member, said in a press release announcing the policy.

In particular, the policy “mobilizes the AMA to advocate for policies that limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions aimed at carbon neutrality by 2050, and support rapid implementation and incentivization of clean energy solutions and significant investments in climate resilience through a climate justice lens,” according to the release.

“Taking action now won’t reverse all of the harm done, but it will help prevent further damage to our planet and our patients’ health and well-being,” Levin said in the release.

The new policy additionally acknowledges the climate, safety and health risks of adding hydrogen to natural gas and the current methods of producing hydrogen derived from fossil fuels. It also directs the AMA to develop a strategic plan to enact the new climate change policies, “including advocacy priorities and strategies to decarbonize physician practices and the health sector with a report back to the House of Delegates at the 2023 annual meeting.”

The release states that the newly adopted policies “build upon AMA’s existing policy and efforts to promote environmental sustainability and efforts to halt the global climate crisis, including policy to help physicians in adopting environmentally-sustainable programs in their practices and sharing these concepts with their patients and communities.”

Reference:

• AMA adopts new policy declaring climate change a public health crisis. https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-adopts-new-policy-declaring-climate-change-public-health-crisis. Published June 13, 2022. Accessed Jun 14, 2022.