From Townsville to Tuvalu

^{19 August 2019}

Monash and the Global Health Alliance call for action to reduce health impacts of climate change

The Global Health Alliance Australia and Monash University successfully launched health and climate change policy paper, ‘From Townsville to Tuvalu’, to a crowded audience at the Monash School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine on Wednesday 31 July 2019.

Experts speaking at the launch discussed the necessity of the policy paper in light of the exposure of Australia and neighbouring countries to more deaths, illnesses and injuries from heatwaves, cyclones and other extreme weather events due to climate change.

The report was published by The Global Health Alliance Australia – a peak body of 47 global health organisation – in collaboration with the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. The policy paper details the impacts of climate change on the health of Australians and of our neighbours in the Indo-Pacific region, and proposes ways to reduce these impacts.

Head of School Professor Sophia Zoungas and Global Health Professor Jane Fisher

Specifically, the report outlines a nine-point plan which calls on Australia’s Federal, State and local Governments to respond to the health impacts of climate change in Australia and to draw on the $2billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific fund to address serious climate-sensitive health challenges across the region.

Key speakers included Monash Sustainable Development Institute’s Professor John Thwaites, Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, Science journalist Dr Elizabeth Finkel AM, Dr Helen Haines MP (via video from Parliament House), and Global Health Alliance Australia Executive Director Misha Coleman.

Dr Elizabeth Finkel AM at the launch

Key experts from Monash University spoke at the launch, including Senior Vice Provost and Vice Provost (Research), Director of Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) Professor Rebekah Brown, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise) Ms Sarah Newton, Public Health and Preventive Medicine’s Head of School Professor Sophia Zoungas, Public Health and Preventive Medicine’s Professor Karin Leder, and Finkel Professor of Global Health Professor Jane Fisher.

Professor Fisher, who chaired the event and was a key collaborator for the report, says the launch is a strong example of the shared value of bringing together universities, political representatives, federal, state and local governments, civil society organisations, and communities to tackle big problems.

“Global health and climate change are each large, abstract constructs,” says Prof Fisher.

“These can be intimidating and induce a sense of powerlessness.”

“However, the University and the Alliance bring together extraordinary conceptual and technical expertise, and this collaborative capacity provides a mechanism for us all to be engaged and to contribute,” says Prof Fisher.

“This is a significant platform through which we can actively seek to reduce health inequalities and address climate change, which will help us to achieve the objectives set out in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda,” concludes Prof Fisher.

Find the report here.