Coda Earth: Conversation 2
Is the Climate Emergency exacerbating social injustice and inequity?
Social inequalities mean that many patients without access to universal healthcare are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis given that their chronic health conditions are exacerbated but they cannot afford to seek treatment. Additionally intergenerational inequality means that younger generations will be more adversely affected by the climate emergency, but at the same time are less likely to have a voice in decisions effecting the actions we take now.
It is essential that both the healthcare community and industry realise our shared Corporate Social Responsibilities. We must act together on this across the entire health industry supply chain.
Additionally our colleges and universities need to be including education on both adaptation and mitigation strategies for the climate emergency into curricula. Currently 85% of medical students from around the world report no education on the Climate Emergency.
Climate Emergency deniers protecting their own interests, threaten our children’s’ future and in doing so their actions feel almost predatory. We need to shift our thinking and acknowledge the threat to our children.
Is the Climate Emergency exacerbating social injustice and inequity?
Omnia El Omrani
Omnia El Omrani is a final-year MBBCh medical student from Egypt, currently working at Ain Shams University Hospital in Cairo. She has more than 6 years of experience in global health and student advocacy. She is currently serving as the Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues for the International Federation of Medical Students’ Association, representing the voice of 1.3 million medical students from 129 countries across the world in the advocacy for planetary health, climate change, and non-communicable diseases. She is also the organization’s focal point to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC).
