Climate Change and the Health Sector

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.

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.

SECTION 1: CLIMATE ACTION BY THE HEALTH SECTOR 1. Health Sector Leadership to Combat Climate Change Alexander Thomas, Divya Alexander, Girdhar Gyani 2. The Role of Health Systems in the Indian and Global Context Preeti Soni, Manish Pant 3. Strengthening Healthcare Delivery Systems in Low Income Countries Zerin Osho, Jagjeet Sareen 4. The Climate Change Policy Framework and Allied Programs in India Rameshwar Sorokhaibam, Shikha Vardhan, Aakash Srivastava SECTION 2: THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HEALTH 5. Disease Pandemics and the Threat of Microbial Emergence Lalit Kant, Gifty Immanuel, Jai Prakash Narain 6. Climate Change and Human Health: An Overview Poornima Prabhakaran 7. Air Pollution, Climate Change and the Health Sector: Linkages and Solutions H. Paramesh, D.J. Christopher, Jyothi S. Menon 8. Nourish or Perish: The Effect of Climate Change on Food, Nutrition and Health Manu Raj Mathur, Ameeka Shereen Lobo, Himanshi Pandey, Anjali Ganpule-Rao, K. Srinath Reddy 9. Gendered Vulnerabilities and Health Inequities Vanitha Kommu, Divya Alexander, Lakshmi Lingam 10. The Consequences of Climate Change on Vulnerable Populations Richa Sharma, R. Srikanth 11. The Status of Heat Health in India Priya Dutta, Mahaveer Golechha, Dileep Mavalankar SECTION 3: REDUCING THE CLIMATE FOOTPRINT OF THE HEALTH SECTOR 12. Climate-Smart Healthcare: What Does It Entail? Josh Karliner, Shriram Manogaran 13. Green and Resilient Health Infrastructure Yatin Choudhary, Hari Kumar 14. Sustainable Energy Management in the Health Sector Huda Jaffer, Harish Hande 15. Water Stress and the Effective Management of Water in Healthcare Shyamala Mani, Samayita Ghosh, R. Srinivasan 16. Sustainable Ways to Manage Waste in Healthcare Facilities Ananya Tewari, Shyamala Mani 17. Sustainable Transport Solutions in the Health Sector Shailendra P. Singh, Sundeep Singh Chauhan 18. Sustainable Procurement in Healthcare Susan Wilburn, Ishika Jharia, Poornima Prabhakaran SECTION 4: CLIMATE ACTION BY ALLIED SECTORS 19. Environmental Sustainability in the Pharmaceuticals Industry Suman Sharma, Alba Tiley 20. Chemicals and Climate: Challenges for the Health Sector Tracey Easthope, Megha Rathi 21. The Paradox of Plastics in Healthcare and Health Swaminathan Sivaram, Aditi Roy, Swapan K. Ray