Climate Change and the Health Sector

The health sector is known to be one of the major contributors towards the greenhouse gas emissions causing the climate crisis, the greatest health threat of the 21st century. This volume positions the health sector as a leader in the fight against climate change and explores the role of the health system in climate policy action. It delivers an overview of the linkages between climate change and the health sector, with chapters on the impact of climate change on health, its connection to pandemics, and its effects on food, nutrition and air quality, while examining gendered and other vulnerabilities. It delves into the different operational aspects of the health sector in India and details how each one can become climate-smart to reduce the health sector’s overall carbon footprint, by looking at sustainable procurement, green and resilient healthcare infrastructure, and the management of transportation, energy, water, waste, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics in healthcare.

Well supplemented with rigorous case studies, the book will be indispensable for students, teachers, and researchers of environmental studies, health sciences and climate change. It will be useful for healthcare workers, public health officials, healthcare leaders, policy planners and those interested in climate resilience and preparedness in the health sector.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Alexander Thomas, President of AHPI, President of the Association of National Board Accredited Institutions (ANBAI), and Founder-President (2012-2017) and Patron of the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), has effected far-reaching policy changes within the healthcare landscape both at the national and the state level, pioneered many training initiatives, and received several awards for his contributions to the health sector. His recent publications include books on healthcare communication and healthcare quality, and white papers submitted to the Government of India.

K. Srinath Reddy, a Padma Bhushan awardee, is the President of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and formerly headed the Department of Cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He holds advisory positions in numerous national and international bodies, including the position of former President of the World Heart Federation (2013-2015), and has been awarded several prestigious national and international doctorates and fellowships. His recent publications include Make Health in India: Reaching a Billion Plus (2019).

Divya Alexander has over a decade of expertise in gender, health and public policy research, having drawn up policy recommendations and drafted healthcare legislation in India and abroad through her work with AHPI, UNFPA, and Amnesty International USA. She has co-edited two books and several papers on healthcare communication, adolescent health education, public policy and climate change. She read for her Master’s degree at the University of Oxford as a Commonwealth Scholar and is a gold medallist from Bangalore University (Mount Carmel College), India.

Poornima Prabhakaran is Additional Professor and Head of Environmental Health; Deputy Director at the Centre for Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India; and Senior Research Scientist at the Centre for Chronic Disease Control. She leads work engaging the Indian health sector on environmental issues, including a strong advocacy movement towards climate-resilient and sustainable healthcare systems in India. She is a member of technical expert groups providing the health perspective to various national programs related to climate change, air pollution and urban resilience.