Category: Ecology and Environment
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Climate risks are rising, but are we doing enough to respond?
Nhi Nguyen It isn’t hard to notice the extreme weather changes in recent times. Here, in Brisbane, we recently experienced heavy downpours of rain and hail, followed by scorching heat close to 40 degree the day after in October. Between 2006 and 2017, heatwaves were responsible for about 36,000 deaths…
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Surfers savvy on public health priorities
Belinda Lawton and Dr Amy Peden Cleaning up the ocean and working to prevent drowning have topped a list of surfers’ funding priorities, reflecting the health issues which are most likely to affect them in the waves. Despite the attention given to the risk of shark attack, the largest ever…
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Striking before it’s El Nino hot: raising awareness of older people’s heat health risks
Ella Jackman (Project Coordinator & Research Assistant), Mehak Oberai (Senior Research Assistant), Ethos (Extreme Heat and Older Persons) Project, and Associate Professor Shannon Rutherford, Griffith University Global temperatures have increased and are expected to continue increasing, due to the ongoing consequences of climate change. This warming will have unprecedented harms…
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Putting knowledge into action at the 2023 Greening the Healthcare Sector Forum
Climate and Health Alliance Australia’s annual sustainable healthcare conference, Greening the Health Care Sector will be held in Perth this year for the first time. From 14-15 September, hundreds of people interested in improving the environmental footprint of healthcare and aged care will congregate at Fiona Stanley Hospital to connect,…
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World Veterinary Day 2023: what can Public Health Professionals learn?
Dr Babatunde Balogun, PHAA member and PhD candidate at the Australian Institute of Health Service Management, University of Tasmania. Since 2000, the World Veterinary Association (WVA) has earmarked the last Saturday of every April to celebrate the veterinary profession. Tagged the World Veterinary Day (WVD), the occasion is used to…
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Vital for human survival: trees
Dr Rosalie Schultz, PHAA Environment and Ecology Special Interest Group member “Imagine if trees gave off Wifi signals. We would be planting so many trees and we’d probably save the planet too. Too bad they only produce the oxygen we breathe.” (Mudabbir Khalid in the Huffington Post, 2014). …
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Proposed polluting precinct set for Top End sparks concern for environment and health
Lily Pratt, PHAA Policy Officer, and Environment Centre NT Last week’s announcement that the Minister for the Environment and Water, Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, had formally rejected a proposed Central Queensland Coal Project due to environment-related concerns has drawn attention to other alarming projects on the horizon. During question time…
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Food, nutrition and climate: What was on the table at COP27?
Holley Jones, PHAA Food and Nutrition Special Interest Group member COP 27 in Egypt The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Egypt in November, with the intention to drive collaboration and enact commitments made in…
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In remembrance of Dr Liz Barber, our colleague, friend and advocate for ecology and public health
From left to right: Dr Liz Barber (image courtesy of Lee Barber); Liz’s activism on climate with Health on the Frontline in 2019 (image courtesy of Health on the Frontline). Linda Selvey, The University of Queensland; Fran Boyle, The University of Queensland; Julie Dean, The University of Queensland; Richard…
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Sophie Dwyer PSM on working with talented people to solve difficult problems
Associate Professor Sophie Dwyer (right), received the 2022 Sidney Sax Medal from PHAA President, Adjunct Professor Tarun Weeramanthri (left), recently in Adelaide. This is the third story in our series of 2022 PHAA award winners. What is your job title? I retired from my role as Executive Director, Health Protection,…
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Our home, our body, our planet
By Takuzo Kimura, physiotherapist and volunteer with the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) Has your room ever gotten a little messier the week before an important deadline? In Japanese culture, there is a belief that the way someone’s home looks says a lot about their state of mind. The pressures…
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Food and drinks are getting sweeter. Even if it’s not all sugar, it’s bad for our health
Cherie Russell, Deakin University; Carley Grimes, Deakin University; Mark Lawrence, Deakin University; Phillip Baker, Deakin University, and Rebecca Lindberg, Deakin University Humans have an evolutionary preference for sweetness. Sweet foods, like fruit and honey, were an important energy source for our ancestors. However, in the modern world, sweetened foods are…
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Natural systems in Australia are unravelling. If they collapse, human society could too
Liz Hanna, Australian National University and Mark Howden, Australian National University In the long-delayed State of the Environment report released this week, there is one terrifying sentence: “Environmental degradation is now considered a threat to humanity, which could bring about societal collapses.” Hyperbole? Sadly not. Climate change has already warmed…
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Environmental health essential in an Australian CDC: Sophie Dwyer PSM
Sophie Dwyer One of the positive aspects of the conversation that the PHAA has been having around the formation of a Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has been the recognition that a CDC needs to have a broader scope than solely that of communicable disease control. The purpose of this…
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Strengthening Australia’s chemical regulation: an opportunity for the new government
Peter W. Tait, PHAA member In the past five years Australia’s agricultural, veterinary (agvet) and industrial chemical regulation has undergone a series of reviews and reforms. The purpose of these has been to reduce the regulatory burden on manufacturers, importers, and industry while retaining protection of the environment and human…
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No butts about stopping tobacco damaging the environment
On this World No Tobacco Day, we remember another victim of the tobacco industry – the environment Dr Michelle I Jongenelis, University of Melbourne, Dr Sarah L White, Quit Victoria, and Kate Noble, WWF Australia May 31st marks World No Tobacco Day. An initiative of the World Health Organization, World No…
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Australia fails adaption to climate change
Honorary Associate Professor Liz Hanna Australia’s abject failure to mitigate or adapt to climate change was a key topic at last week’s Global Public Health Week. Hosted by the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) from 4 – 8 April 2022, the Global Public Health Week initiative was a…
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Ultra-processed foods are trashing our health – and the planet
Kim Anastasiou, Deakin University; Mark Lawrence, Deakin University; Michalis Hadjikakou, Deakin University, and Phillip Baker, Deakin University Our world is facing a huge challenge: we need to create enough high-quality, diverse and nutritious food to feed a growing population – and do so within the boundaries of our planet. This…
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Sick governance risks all our health
Malcolm Baalman – PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser We saw a disappointing Budget this week, with virtually no new investment in population-level prevention of diseases. What governments decide to do – or not do – makes a huge difference to the population’s health. Governments make laws about environmental health,…
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Advocating for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems in Australia – taking a holistic approach
Kate Sievert, Cherie Russell, and Sarah Dickie – Healthy Food Systems Australia Australia’s dominant food system provides access to a wide range of safe foods in a relatively secure manner. However, it is also a major contributor to chronic disease risk and environmental degradation. Our food supply encourages the…
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Fighting for food regulation reform and social mobilisation for wicked problems: Food Futures Conference 2022
PHAA Featuring international food and nutrition experts, and prominent Australian public figures, the final day of the Food Futures Conference 2022 was action-packed. Panel Session – The future of food regulation in Australia and New Zealand Emeritus Prof Murray Skeaff of @otago is speaking on food regulation system modernisation. #FoodFutures2022…
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“Uncomfortable, important and compelling”: Food Sovereignty presentations at Food Futures 2022
Christina Pollard, Melanie Parker, and Food Futures Conference Advisory Committee Over 170 delegates attended the Food Futures Conference 2022, held Wednesday 16 to Thursday 17 March. Expert speakers presented on a range of topics, on the Conference theme of transforming food systems for the planetary and public good. The third…
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Under-resourced and undermined: as floods hit south-west Sydney, our research shows councils aren’t prepared
Nicky Morrison, Western Sydney University and Patrick Harris, UNSW Sydney Thousands of people in south-western Sydney have been ordered to evacuate as extreme rain pummels the region and floodwaters rise rapidly. The downpour is expected to continue for days. This region, particularly Western Sydney, is no stranger to climate-related disasters.…
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Expert to discuss framework for making food systems sustainable and healthy at PHAA conference
Introduction by Jeremy Lasek – PHAA At the PHAA’s upcoming Food Futures Conference, (16-17 March) a leading Australian expert, Professor Mark Lawrence, from Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), will explore The Ecological Nutrition Conceptual Framework for promoting healthy and sustainable diets. Institute for Physical Health and…
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Plastic pollution: why is it a public health problem and why Australia needs a plastic pollution policy
Dr Andrew Daltry, Dr Lea Merone, Dr Peter Tait, and Jeremy Lasek It was described as a ‘global pandemic’ long before COVID-19 rocked our world in early 2020. The so-called ‘plastic pandemic’ sees an estimated five trillion pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans right now and it can take…
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How nurses can help fight climate change
Dr Aletha Ward – University of Southern Queensland Nurses have been frontline in the pandemic response, demonstrating leadership in communicating science to our communities. However, another crisis is unfolding which calls for leadership from nurses, the largest healthcare profession in the healthcare industry. Our emerging climate crisis, labelled as a…
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Why do democratic governments keep letting their people suffer the impacts of climate disruption?
Malcolm Baalman – PHAA The circus that was the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow has come and gone. The results in terms of protecting the health of the world’s people look like being, well, just about net zero. COP26 – more accurately, the 26th annual conference of the 197 member…
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What’s in the WHO’s COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health?
Anna Alex – PHAA intern Leading up to COP26 in Glasgow next week, the World Health Organisation has released a special report, the Health Argument for Climate Action, outlining 10 recommendations made by the global health community for Heads of States to consider as priority areas and actionable points. The…
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Drugs, advocacy, and understanding public health’s ‘new frontier’: it’s conference week
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA The Australian Public Health Conference 2021 starts this Thurday 23 September, and features a stellar line-up of presenters. One final reminder, this year’s conference is virtual only, so if you haven’t cancelled your travel plans and accommodation in the national capital, please make that a…
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Forum calls for health to be the main driver for climate action
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA In responding to COVID-19, governments everywhere, including in Australia, have dropped the ball on protecting the health of its citizens by taking their eye off the growing climate change crisis. This was one of the clear messages from last week’s Better Futures Forum, a three-day…