ERS has joined the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) along with 16 European organisations in calling on G20 health ministers to prioritise climate change and environmental factors to ensure the health and safety of citizens across the world.
Ministers will meet for the first time in Berlin on 19-20 May, to discuss ways to improve global health crisis management, the strengthening of healthcare systems, and the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
In an open letter to ministers, the partner organisations highlight how public health is directly impacted by the threat of climate change; recent WHO estimates state that 12.6 million deaths (23% of all deaths worldwide) in 2012 were attributable to modifiable environmental factors. Many of these factors are likely to be influenced by climate change or are related to its driving forces.
The open letter represents millions of doctors, nurses and health professionals in Europe, and calls on health leaders to recognise the threat of climate change on public health, and to act to ensure environmental policies are implemented seriously to prevent further environmental damage.