WORLD HEALTH DAY – MORE RESEARCH FOR A BETTER PLANETARY HEALTH
The growing natural disasters and threats caused by environmental changes have raised the need to formulate new approaches to public health and to the environment. Pushing the implementation of concrete actions to tackle climate change and to reach Planetary Health become necessary.
In this context, nursing research can play a vital role in the implementation of the Planetary Health in terms of finding new solutions and spreading reliable information to the population. A greater investment in planetary nursing science could benefit European Union allowing answering some pressing questions about how to adapt and mitigate environmental change through energy, food, mobility, gender-based, nature-based solutions, inside and outside the health sector, which would improve health and well-being of European citizens.
Climate change is nothing new and its effects are becoming increasingly devastating for the earth and human health. Nursing researchers have here a unique opportunity to bring their contribution to the co-design and implementation of EU health and relevant Green Deal related policies that impact on planetary health. Climate change is an opportunity to improve the European health and wellbeing with the evidence coming from nursing research programs. In this perspective, the European Institutions ambitious investments in the nursing research and workforce is key and timely needed so nurses can act on the mitigation of and adaptation to environmental changes.
On the World Health Day, it is important to shed the light on the great issue of climate change that can really create irreversible damage to the health of people and nature occurs. There is no more time to waste, it is time to act.
Stay healthy, boost research and take care about your climate!
Useful information is available here:
- Green Deal in the EU
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/eu-climate-action_en
- A European Green Deal – Striving to be the first climate-neutral continent
https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en
- EU climate action policy: Responding to the global emergency
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_STU(2021)689378
- European Commission. An international treaty on pandemic prevention and preparedness
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/coronavirus/pandemic-treaty/
- Protecting health in an environment challenged by climate change: European Regional Framework for Action