HEALTHY PEOPLE, HEALTHY PLANET The role of health systems in promoting healthier lifestyles and a greener future Mark Pearson Deputy Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
Economic cost of premature deaths due to ambient air pollution as a proportion of GDP in G7 countries 6% 5% 4% Share of GDP (%) 3% 2% 1% 0% 2 Source: OECD Environment Working Papers , No. 124, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2017.
Ministries of Health can promote both better health and healthier environment Promote healthier diets for a greener environment Support sustainable urban living policies Encourage active travel to decrease motorised vehicle emissions 3
Unhealthy diets and unsustainable agriculture are environmentally damaging Soil erosion and decarbonisation Deforestation, Overfishing desertification Pollution; environmental degradation; Excessive use of Methane gas climate change antibiotics in emissions Diet-related farming NCDs; respiratory diseases 4
Ministries of Health can promote healthier diets and sustainable food production Physician-dietician counselling found to be cost-effective in Canada (18,000 Encourage healthier diets in USD/DALY gained); England (7,000), Italy primary care (14,000) and Japan (9,900) after 15 years of implementation A third of hospital food is wasted – inappropriate portion size, poor quality, Provide healthy food and reduce wrong time food waste in hospitals Eating healthier, plant-based diets can Ensure healthy diets lead to reduce food-related greenhouse gas sustainable agriculture emissions by 29%-70% by 2050 5
Environmentally unsustainable urban design can also damage health Lack of Excessive trees and reliance on green space fossil fuels Too much Inefficient car use due energy use Air pollution; to urban climate change; in hospitals urban heat sprawl islands Respiratory diseases; heat strokes; physical inactivity- related NCDs 6
Making city living more sustainable: what Ministries of Health can do Try to include health and Planting cities with trees to the extent environmental considerations in possible can reduce particulate matter- urban planning schemes related mortality by 2.7% to 8.7% In the US, healthcare sector responsible Reduce carbon footprint in for up to 10% of total greenhouse gas healthcare sector emissions Reduce reliance on fossil fuels in electricity generation as they emit In the US, fossil fuels are burned to create SO2, NOx and mercury as well as 35% of US carbon emissions carbon 7
Overreliance on car use is bad for health and for the environment Lack of Urban physical heat activity islands CO 2 Urban emissions smog Air pollution; climate change Physical inactivity- related NCDs; respiratory diseases 8
What Ministries of Health can do to encourage active transportation Implement mass media These campaigns estimated to campaigns to encourage increase physical activity levels physical activity by about 36% New intermodal transportation Create partnerships with local options can increase moderate authorities to increase active physical activity by about 32 transportation options min/week Partner with local In Munich, implementation of transportation authorities to LEZ was found to reduce elementary carbon by 60% enact low-emission zones 9
OECD can help G7 countries Evaluate additional environmental benefits of public health • actions addressing non-communicable diseases; • Facilitate the sharing of country experiences; Identify suitable policy actions; • Support countries in the implementation of policies that • present co-benefits by being simultaneously environmentally friendly and health-promoting @thenounproject.com: Le Bas; Made; @istockphoto.com: TopVectors; @iconfinder.com: Walsh 10 All the references are available in the report “Healthy people, healthy planet: The role of health systems in promoting hea lthier lifestyles and a greener future”
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