Following five years of research, the EU-funded research project FREIA has published recommendations for health promotion strategies and EU-wide policy action to reduce exposure.
As part of the conference ‘The role of green hospitals in tackling climate change’, HEAL Poland organised a debate on the role of health experts in climate action and the health sector’s preparedness, bringing together Polish and international health representatives. The event was organised by the Provincial Specialist Complex of Health Care Centres for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis in Wolica. Prompted by the exchange, the hospital became part of the Doctors for Climate initiative, which is faciliated by HEAL.
In 2021 the hospital in Wolica joined the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals network, being the first Polish hospital to do so. Conference participants learned about the green transformation of the hospital and participated in expert lectures on actions of the healthcare sector towards sustainability, carbon neutrality and the protection of public health.
The debate organised by HEAL Poland focused on climate change impacts including increase in pollution, heatwaves, floods, storms and the spread of vector-borne diseases by insects that used to be only prevalent in warmer climates. Health experts in the panel unanimously agreed that the climate crisis is also a health crisis, and therefore there is an urgent need to ensure the education system, at every level, reflects this. In addition, the panel also considered ways the health sector can be engaged in climate mitigation and adaptation. Panellists included Doctor Barbara Piekarska, National Consultant in the field of Environmental Health, Prof. Tadeusz Zielonka, a specialist in lung diseases and internal medicine, Kamila Kadzidłowska, co-founder of the Parents for Climate Foundation and Igor Grzesiak, Vice President of the Management Board of the Institute of Patient Rights and Health Education.
During the conference HEAL Poland established an agreement for collaboration on protecting health against environmental and climate threats. with the Provincial Specialist Complex of Health Care Centres for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis in Wolica. In addition, the hospital joined the Doctors for Climate initiative appeal for action on climate change. The appeal, facilitated by HEAL in 2020, calls policymakers on national and local levels to tackle the causes of climate change and its effects, to safeguard public health. It is signed by over 50 health sector actors.
Photo: HEAL Poland Director Weronika Michalak and MD Slawomir Wysocki, CEO of the Provincial Specialist Complex of Health Care Institutions for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis in Wolica.
“We hope that through this collaboration we can ensure the Polish health care sector will be better informed and prepared for the health impacts of climate change. HEAL Poland will support doctors by working towards bridging collaboration between the healthcare sector and policymakers” Weronika Michalak, Director of HEAL Poland, stated.
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