On World Health Day 2022 (April 7), GCU’s School of Health and Life Sciences Dean Professor Anita Simmers highlights how staff and students are helping to build a fairer, healthier world.
This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for urgent action to keep humans and the planet healthy through its ‘Our plant, our health’ campaign.
WHO estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes. This includes the climate crisis which is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. The climate crisis is also a health crisis.
Professor Simmers said: “I am proud that through our education, research and support of communities, we are building a fairer, healthier world. Together, we can be the generation that provides solutions for a sustainable future.
“Climate change impacts health in a myriad of ways, including leading to death and illness from extreme weather events, the disruption of food systems, increases in food, water and vector-borne diseases, and mental health issues.
“The health impacts of climate change continue to worsen and are being felt on every continent. The future of our young people and their children is under threat, and we must act now.”
WHO says that in the midst of a pandemic, a polluted planet, and an increase in conditions such as cancer, asthma and heart disease, it will focus its global campaign on urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy and foster a movement to crease societies focused on wellbeing.
GCU is doing its bit to help improve the health of the planet and our communities with research including pharmaceutical pollution of Scotland’s water environment, a £3.5 million initiative to position the country as a global leader in water research, health and environmental benefits of living near a canal and experts in the Centre for Climate Justice are looking at the experiences of people in Sub-Saharan Africa during the coronavirus pandemic, climate finance and how it affects women.
Help mark World Health Day by getting involved in the campaign – https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2022
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