India | Study finds healthcare professionals support climate action, role of health sector crucial

India | Study finds healthcare professionals support climate action, role of health sector crucial

The largest ever survey on climate change conducted among over 3000 healthcare professionals in India, has revealed that the health sector should play a crucial role in action and advocacy on climate change in India. Over 85% respondents believed that the healthcare sector has a responsibility to address climate change and reduce their own carbon footprint. 3062 healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, hospital administrators, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) health staff and healthcare students were surveyed in this study conducted between …

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India | Report: Korba’s coal communities suffer twice the normal respiratory diseases in times of COVID-19

India | Report: Korba’s coal communities suffer twice the normal respiratory diseases in times of COVID-19

Korba’s coal communities suffer from twice the normal respiratory diseases in times of COVID19: SHRC Chhattisgarh

3 April 2020, New Delhi/Raipur: Chhattisgarh’s State Health Resource Centre (SHRC) releases a new study which assesses the health impact on communities in Korba living near coal-fired thermal power plants. The study affirms the hypothesis that the population living near thermal power plants has greater exposure to particulate matter resulting in higher respiratory illnesses than the general population. At a time when the country is in a lockdown …

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South Africa | groundWork releases report on Just Transition, highlights health vulnerabilities and opportunities

South Africa | groundWork releases report on Just Transition, highlights health vulnerabilities and opportunities

In March Health Care Without Harm’s partner in South Africa, groundWork, together with its Life After Coal partners the Centre for Environmental Rights and EarthLife Africa JHB, launched their 2019 report titled Down to Zero: The politics of just transition.

The Down to Zero report examines the urgent need to respond to climate change, create a truly democratic and participatory order, and share our work and the wealth of the land.

Health is discussed throughout the report, including the range of health risks arising from climate change and air pollution, which …

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India | Air Pollution Chokes Chennai – Doctors For Clean Air Urge City’s Inclusion in National Clean Air Programme

India | Air Pollution Chokes Chennai – Doctors For Clean Air Urge City’s Inclusion in National Clean Air Programme

Air quality in all 15 locations sampled from across the city between May and July 2019 was unhealthy, with levels of PM 2.5 in the worst affected areas nearly three times the national standard of 60 ug/m3, according to a study released by Healthy Energy Initiative and Doctors for Clean Air-Tamil Nadu. The widespread nature of pollution and the fact that the samples were taken in summer highlights how the current pollution crisis is neither an isolated nor a seasonal incident. The study analysed 24-hour …

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India | Report reveals respiratory health burden of traffic police in Chennai

India | Report reveals respiratory health burden of traffic police in Chennai

The workplace of Traffic Police Personnel – the public streets – are highly polluted with various sources such as vehicular emissions, road dust, residential and commercial construction, industries, dump yards, etc. Thus, they are vulnerable to long term and continuous exposure to pollutants. Assessing their respiratory health will speak volumes about the brunt of air pollution that they are exposed to. In this context, Huma Lung Foundation, a member of Global Green and Healthy Hospitals and Doctors For Clean Air, conducted the radiographic screening for the Traffic Police Personnel …

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India | Report Assesses Health System Response to Kerala Floods of August 2018

India | Report Assesses Health System Response to Kerala Floods of August 2018

The Kerala floods of 2018 offered a unique opportunity to appraise the challenges within the health sector and also redesign the health sector to be an anchor for communities in an event of any extreme climatic event in the future.

Healthy Energy Initiative India and Doctors for You, in collaboration with Climate Action Network South Asia and Community Environmental Monitoring, conducted a preliminary multi stakeholder survey of Health System response to Kerala Floods of August 2018 to consolidate the experiences of health care systems in the state.

Download the report.

The survey particularly assessed …

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South Africa | New Report Shows How Coal Power Is Turning Mpumalanga Highveld into Wasteland

South Africa | New Report Shows How Coal Power Is Turning Mpumalanga Highveld into Wasteland

At the launch of a new groundWork (Healthy Energy Initiative partner in South Africa) report entitled Destruction of the Highveld: Part 2 – Burning Coal in eMalahleni, “the place of coal”, yesterday, community members* confirmed the study’s findings that Eskom’s coal addiction is causing serious health problems and killing people in the Highveld. They also called for a community and worker-led process to drive a just transition, and end the way in which coal power is turning the Mpumalanga Highveld into a wasteland.

Furthermore, the report finds that people are already …

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India | Report finds serious health problems in communities around coal mines and power plants in Central India

India | Report finds serious health problems in communities around coal mines and power plants in Central India

Report finds Serious Health Problems among Residents living around Coal Mines and Thermal Power Plants in Raigarh; Recommends Moratorium on Industrial Activities in the Region

A health study conducted by medical and public health experts of People First Collective India has found serious health problems among the residents living around coal mines and thermal power plants in Tamnar block of Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh. The study titled Health and Environmental Impact of Coal Mining in Chhattisgarh, surveyed more than 500 people in 3 villages of Tamnar Block within 2-kilometer radius of power plants and coal mines.

According to the report “health-related complaints identified amongst …

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Global | Lancet Countdown 2017 Report Shows Urgency of Healthy Energy Transition

Global | Lancet Countdown 2017 Report Shows Urgency of Healthy Energy Transition

“From 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health”

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change (*) released this week its 2017 report titled, “From 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health.” The report builds upon the influential 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, which emphasized that the response to climate change could be “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century.”

The Lancet Countdown’s 2017 report tracks 40 indicators across five areas, arriving at three key conclusions:

The …

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Global | Report: Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health

Global | Report: Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health

The Report from The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health analyzes and communicates the massive scope of the health and economic costs of air, water, and soil pollution. Through analyses of existing and emerging data, the Report reveals pollution’s severe and underreported contribution to the Global Burden of Disease. It uncovers the economic costs of pollution to low- and middle-income countries, and compare the costs of inaction to the costs of available solutions. It informs key decision makers around the world about the burden that pollution places …

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