Healthcare Sector Part of Climate Change Problem

Diseases directly correlated to climate change are on the rise. Ironically, the healthcare industry is a part of the reason why there is a need to treat climate change-related illnesses.

This comes as individuals globally are already feeling the adverse effects of climate change in a medical standpoint, as reports of “respiratory and cardiovascular disease, injuries and premature deaths related to extreme weather events, changes in infectious diseases patterns, and threats to mental health” are increasing, according to World Economic Forum Head of Health and Healthcare Industry Susanne Andreae.

Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that around 250,000 individuals will die per year from 2030 to 2050 from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress brought about by climate change, adding to the 7 million deaths per year due to air pollution.

For the Philippines, air pollution is causing about 120000 deaths every year according to Engineer Bonifacio Magtibay of WHO Philippines in a global nonprofit health & environment organization Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) 2018 report.

This prompted the WHO to name climate change as humanity’s greatest health threat.

The healthcare sector, which has been at the forefront of treating those with climate change-related illnesses, is ironically, part of the reason why there are illnesses related to climate change as the sector accounts for 4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) globally.

A 2021 HCWH report said that the Philippine healthcare system emitted around 5.22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide before the COVID-19 pandemic, which ranked 36th in terms of gross emissions out of 68 countries. (GFB)