Climate change is a health issue affecting U.S
Climate Change
Policy Health Issue
Climate change is a health issue affecting U.S. Issues such as heat waves as well as hurricanes affects the American population. Climate change aftermaths affect the older people, children, people with disabilities as well as people with existing medical conditions the most. Extreme weather patterns are also likely to initiate health-related issues such as diseases. Waterborne diseases, for example, are more likely to be contracted during a hurricane. Airborne diseases, on the other hand, are likely to be contracted during a heatwave. Air, water, and soil pollution are thus inevitable in extreme weather cases. Severe weather occurs at a local and state level. A local level critical weather issue is, however, likely to spread to other areas, eventually affecting the entire country. Extreme weather results in health emergencies at various levels, depending on the extremity of the issue. Severe weather automatically inhibits outdoor activities. As such, child development is likely to be affected (Evans, 2019, p1) due to the lack of outdoor activities that include playtime. Transportation is equally affected in extreme weather, such as floods and hurricanes. Access to health care for people with existing medical conditions becomes a challenge.
Problem Statement
Climate change, with a particular focus on extreme weather, has increased over the years. Issues such as global warming and pollution have significantly contributed to climate change. Not only does severe weather bring about air, soil, and water-related issues, it also curtails access to health care. It is in this regard that policies should be made at a global, national, and state level to deal with the inevitable impact of climate change. Floods and hurricanes, for example, cut off electricity supply directly affecting health care services. Supply and access to clean water are equally negatively impacted. With the lack of clean water comes the likelihood of waterborne diseases. Living is also affected as houses are destroyed, necessitating the need to relocate.
Equity issues come into focus during extreme weather calamities. In cases where the catastrophe takes place in an area with a mostly impoverished population, it becomes difficult for individuals to get back on their feet. Access to health care services in this regard may be challenging due to low income. It is important to note that extreme weather necessitates the need for health care services at a higher rate. Economic inequality impacts the access rate of health care services. It is in this regard that policies need to be formulated to adequately deal with climate change at the global, national, and state level. A good system should, in this regard, dwell on ways of reducing impact as well as equality and equity.
Addressing the Issue
The climate, health, and equity is a policy action agenda (“Climate, Health, And Equity: A Policy Action Agenda”, 2019). The policy seeks to focus on climate action for health and health action for the climate. For the two agendas to be adequately fulfilled, financial action for both plans must be equally factored. Extreme weather issues, in this case, can be appropriately sorted through policymaking at the national and state level. Congress, in this regard, plays a significant role in policymaking. It is in this regard that the American public health association is petitioning for Congress participation in climate change policy (American Public Health Association, 2020). Other stakeholders, such as the public and private sector, have been involved in policymaking as well. The climate, health, and equity policy is an example of a partnership between local, state, and national stakeholders in the public, private, and community sectors.
An issue such as extreme weather is not only a climate change issue but a health emergency problem as well. Severe weather impacts the health care system in various ways. The health care sector, in this regard, is one of the stakeholders involved in policymaking as it is directly affected by climate change issues (Solomon & LaRocque, 2019, p209).
The collection of signatures is one of the ways that petitioning takes place. Advocacy is yet another avenue taken to change or initiate new policies. Congress petitioning is thus crucial at a government level. The health care and transport sector can equally play a role at administrative levels. Communities can also take part at the local level in creating emergency preparedness policy, for example. It is interesting to note that individuals directly affected by extreme weather challenges are more likely to support policy change than those without direct experience (Zanocco, Boudet, Nilson & Flora, 2019, p1). The policy change is, in this regard, significantly impacted by personal experience.
Impact on the Health Care Delivery
Health care facilities are likely to be cut off during extreme weather episodes such as flooding or hurricanes. Hospitals would be flooded like the rest of the community. Flooding would result in emergency evacuation to other hospitals. Electricity, as earlier inferred, is also likely to be disrupted. Such disruptions could result in loss of life for people under life support machines, for example. Complications are also expected to occur due to oxygen cut off. In areas not affected by the weather, calamity congestion in nearby hospitals would be inevitable. Congestion or overpopulation leads to limited medical supplies. Service delivery is in this regard, is compromised. The health care sector’s sole mandate is ensuring the well being of patients. When service delivery is compromised due to the mentioned reasons, the mandate is not realized.
Conclusion
The health care system plays a significant role in climate change due to its role in greenhouse gas emission (Solomon & LaRocque, 2019, p209). In this regard, the health care sector is not only affected by climate change but contributes to climate change through pollution. Policymaking involves stakeholders at the state, federal and community levels in the public and private sectors. The manufacturing and transport industry, for example, plays a role in carbon emission. Solutions thus revolve around action change to reduce air, land, and water pollution that contributes to climate change.
Reference
American Public Health Association. (2020). Climate Change. Retrieved 13 May 2020, from
https://apha.org/topics-and-issues/climate-change
Climate, Health, and Equity: A Policy Action Agenda. (2019). Retrieved 13
May 2020, from https://climatehealthaction.org/media/cta_docs/PAA_OnePager.pdf
Evans, G. (2019). Projected Behavioral Impacts of Global Climate Change. Annual Review of
Psychology, 70(1), 449-474. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103023
Solomon, C., & LaRocque, R. (2019). Climate Change — A Health Emergency. New England
Journal Of Medicine, 380(3), 209-211. doi: 10.1056/nejmp1817067
Zanocco, C., Boudet, H., Nilson, R., & Flora, J. (2019). Personal harm and support for climate
change mitigation policies: Evidence from 10 U.S. communities impacted by extreme weather. Global Environmental Change, 59, 101984. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101984