Only Five States Have Plans to Address the Health Impact of Climate Change,
New Report Finds
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Trust for America's Health
(TFAH) released a new report today that finds only five states have published
a strategic climate change plan that includes a public health response. This
includes planning for health challenges and emergencies expected to develop
from natural disasters, pollution, and infectious diseases as temperatures and
sea levels rise.
The Health Problems Heat Up: Climate Change and the Public's Health report
examines U.S. planning for changing health threats posed by climate change,
such as heat-related sickness, respiratory infections, natural disasters,
changes to the food supply, and infectious diseases carried by insects.
"The changing environment has serious ramifications for our health," said Jeff
Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "In the near future, more extreme
weather events, rising temperatures, and worsening air quality mean we'll see
an upswing in climate-related illnesses and injuries. As countries around the
world work to address climate change, federal, state, and local governments
around the United States need to ramp up activities to protect people from the
health harms it poses."
"States are already overwhelmed by existing public health responsibilities, so
we face a serious challenge as we see these new climate change related
problems on the horizon. States and communities will need more resources to
effectively plan and prepare for them," Levi continued.
The five states with public health response plans included in their larger
climate change plans are California, Maryland, New Hampshire, Virginia, and
Washington. Twenty-eight states have published strategic climate change plans
that do not include a public health response, and seventeen states and the
District of Columbia have not published a strategic climate change plan.
Other key findings from the report include that:
-- Only 12 states have established climate change commissions that
include
a representative from the state's public health department;
-- Twenty-two states and New York City have received grants from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Environmental
Health Tracking, to track connections between health problems and the
environment;
-- Thirty-three states have received CDC funds for state asthma control
programs; and
-- Every state except Alaska has received funds to track diseases spread
through mosquitoes and other insects.
According to Health Problems Heat Up, communities across the United States are
at risk for negative health effects associated with climate change. Urban
communities face natural disasters, such as floods and heat waves. Rural
communities may be threatened by food insecurity due to shifts in crop growing
conditions, reduced water resources, heat, and storm damage. Coastal and
low-lying areas could see an increase in floods, hurricanes, and tropical
storms. Mountain regions are at risk of increasing heat and vector-borne
diseases due to melting of mountain glaciers and changes in snow melt. And
communities around the country could experience new insect-based infectious
diseases that used to only be affiliated with high temperature regions.
"The health threats from climate change are very real," said Phyllis Cuttino,
Director of the Pew Environment Group's U.S. Global Warming Campaign. "That is
one more reason the U.S. Congress should enact legislation to address global
warming. Passing climate legislation that includes provisions to help states
prepare for and respond to the projected health impacts of climate change is a
measure in helping to protect the long term health of the American people. The
sooner we act on global warming the healthier we'll all be."
The report contains a series of policy recommendations, including:
-- Congress should provide funding for state and local health departments
to conduct needs assessments and strategic planning for public health
considerations of climate change;
-- The White House and the federal interagency working group on climate
change should take into account the potential health implications of
policies and programs under consideration;
-- Congress should increase support for tracking of environmental effects
on health and research into health effects of climate change;
-- CDC should set national guidelines and measures for core public health
functions related to climate change, and in exchange for federal
funding
for climate change planning and response, CDC should require states
and
localities to report the findings to both the public and the federal
government;
-- All state and local health departments should include public health
considerations as part of climate change plans, including conducting
needs assessments, developing strategic plans, and creating public
education campaigns; and
-- Special efforts must be made to address the impact of climate change
on
at-risk and vulnerable communities.
The U.S. Senate is in the process of developing comprehensive climate change
legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a climate
change bill that includes language to direct the U.S. Secretary of Health and
Human Services to create a national strategic action plan to assist health
professionals to prepare for and respond to the impact of climate change on
public health in the United States and globally. The House bill also includes
a Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Fund to provide the funds
needed to develop and carry out the strategic plan.
The full Health Problems Heat Up report, including state-specific information,
is available on TFAH's web site www.healthyamericans.org. The report was
supported by The Pew Environment Group, which is the conservation arm of The
Pew Charitable Trusts.
Trust for America's Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization
dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and
working to make disease prevention a national priority.
SOURCE Trust for America's Health
Liz Voyles, +1-202-223-9870 x 21, lvoyles@tfah.org, or Laura Segal,
+1-202-223-9870 x 27, lsegal@tfah.org, both of TFAH
