Climate change and Australia's healthcare systems
Australia is facing greater climate change impacts than many other parts of the world. And the Australian health system contributes 7% to our national carbon footprint and also has to deal with the mental and physical health implications of climate change.
In light of these challenges, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians commissioned MSDI’s Evidence Review Service (ERS) to review health system responses to climate change.
The report is designed to provide Australia’s peak healthcare organisations with evidence-based recommendations for Australian policymakers, health systems, health professionals and the communities they serve.
Medical Colleges from across Australia and New Zealand agree that climate change is the biggest current threat to the future of the Australian healthcare system and are calling on the Federal Government to commit to stronger 2030 targets. The Colleges are calling for the Federal Government to urgently come up with a plan to protect Australians and the healthcare system from the impacts of climate change.
The report comprises four research projects: a systematic literature review, a policy and institutional analysis, a series of case studies and an economic analysis.
The research identified 34 relevant reviews highlighting evidence-based interventions including energy efficiency measures, recycling in operating rooms, telemedicine and changes to anaesthetic gases.
Ten Medical Colleges endorsed the report’s seven recommendations to:
- Implement and fund a coordinated national strategy on climate change and health
- Commit to delivering net zero healthcare by 2040
- Embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and leadership in all climate health policy and action
- Invest in prevention and early intervention as a key element of climate health action
- Invest in climate health vulnerability and capacity assessments with a focus on locally-led planning
- Establish a dedicated climate health resilience research fund to support innovation and evidence-based action
- Develop climate health capacity in the healthcare workforce and the wider health system