Our Planet, Our Health Convention Highlights

Two nurses and a pharmacist from Arizona traveled to DC over the weekend to attend the Our Planet, Our Health Convention.  This meeting convened health professionals nationwide to discuss and hear recent research and policy activities regarding climate change, prevention and mitigation efforts.  Here are a few highlights from the two-day meeting:

• During the open session “Theories of Change: Leveraging our Skills as Health Professionals for the Climate+Health Movement we were asked ‘do you have courage?’ Courage is needed to connect actions to outcomes in achieving large-scale change, which is needed today to address the planet's health. We cannot have health without a healthy planet.
• An ecoAmerica study in 2021 surveyed health professionals, the vast majority think the climate crisis is a concern but are unsure what to do. Vast majority of the public are concerned too.
• Plastic and chemicals: they are everywhere and some are causing health harm. Video to watch. When you have a choice, avoid plastic.
• Day 2: we started with a compelling presentation by Senator Bill Frist, MD. “We are right on science and health impact, and we are the right storytellers to help. These issues impact real people. Demand hard data, interpret it, and share it in stories.”
• There was much more, when the recordings are available, we will share them with you.

What We Are Reading & Listening to Now

• EPA Urges White House to strike down landmark climate finding (WashPost)
• There’s a Sandwich Bag of Plastic in Your Brain (Medscape)
• How Climate Change Puts the Safety of Drinking Water at Risk (YaleEnvironment360)
• Scientists discover extreme heat can accelerate aging (MSN)
• Congress is reversing a tax on this climate superpollutant (WashPost)
• Holey Water (Water Agenda)
• AZ Climate (AZCentral)

Join Us: Webinars & Events

• March 12^th: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm (MST): Achieving Energy Independence in a Healthcare Setting Register
• March 18^th: 5:30 pm Monthly meeting AzNA Climate Change & Health Workgroup Zoom
• April 9^th: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm (MST): Climate Change and Farming: Worker Protections and Community Resiliency Register
• April 15^th: 5:30 pm Monthly meeting AzNA Climate Change & Workgroup Zoom
• April 15^th – April 17^th, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm (ET): Save the Date.The 4^th Annual National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) Meeting. Virtual sessions are free to attend.Update: 2/24: Website states meeting postponed.
• April 22^nd Earth Day
• May 5^th – 9^th Arizona Heat Preparedness Week
• May 21^st: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm (MST): Impacts of Heat on Vulnerable Populations Register

   

  Recordings

• February 5^th: Region 9 Pacific Southwest Center for Emergency Public Health: Heat Surveillance, Preparedness Strategies and Community Response Webinar featuring LA County and Maricopa County Recording
• Recording: Webinar with author and Pediatrician Debra Hendrickson on her new book The Air They Breathe: A Pediatrician on the Front Lines of Climate Change. Recording.
• Recording from December 10^th’s webinar: Perspectives on Plastic Lifecycle Series: Plastics Use and Demand Recording.
• Recording from December 11^th’s webinar:A panel discussion on Extreme Weather in Arizona Recording.
• Recording from 3^rd Annual National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) National Meeting 2024 Here

Thank you for joining us in making a healthier planet today!