World Health Day Public Lecture

"Protecting Health from Climate Change"

Presented by Dr Grant Blashki

Monday 7th April 2008

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 1

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 2

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 3

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 4

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 5

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 6

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 7

Dr Grant Blashki - Part 8

Dr Grant Blashki is a GP, a Senior Research Fellow at the Primary Care Research Unit, University of Melbourne, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Kings College London, Victorian Representative of Doctors for the Environment Australia, and Mentor in the Al Gore Climate Change Leadership Program.

Background

This year World Health Day is focusing on ‘protecting health from climate change’. Scientific consensus is strong that climate change is continuing, that it will have substantial health effects around the world, and that it is in fact already responsible for a substantial disease burden. It is the poor who will be hardest hit by climate change, especially in those countries with high levels of poverty, malnutrition, and weak health care systems where it will exacerbate existing public health problems. The challenges for Australia are likely to be dealing with the health impacts associated with more frequent droughts and long term drying, managing alterations in the transmission of some infectious diseases, and preparing for extreme weather events. Action from health professionals should include advocacy for a strong and effective mitigation strategy, in addition to a range of adaption strategies to prevent climate related illnesses.

For information contact The McCaughey Centre Ph: (03) 8344 9101