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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Med.
Sec. Healthcare Professions Education
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1465662
This article is part of the Research Topic Health Professions Education at a Time of Triple Planetary Crises View all 6 articles

Triple Planetary Crisis: Why Healthcare Professionals Should Care

Provisionally accepted
Fathima Rizka Ihsan Fathima Rizka Ihsan Lynn V. Monrouxe Lynn V. Monrouxe *Jacqueline G. Bloomfield Jacqueline G. Bloomfield
  • The University of Sydney, Darlington, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Humanity currently faces an ecological crisis with devastating consequences to all living species. While climate change is estimated to lead to 250,000 extra deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, pollution is known to cause 9 million premature deaths: a figure much greater than the deaths caused by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. The healthcare sector is both burdened by, and contributes to, the impact of climate change and environmental degradation. Amidst glaring evidence of the interdependence of human health and the eco system, there is an urgent call for healthcare professionals to concern themselves with the triple planetary threat humanity currently faces. Without immediate mitigative measures, the future seems uncertain. Some healthcare systems at local, national and global levels have taken numerous initiatives to address, mitigate and adapt to these changes, however, these are not sufficient. A lack of awareness among healthcare professionals of the ecological crisis, its interconnectedness, and the role of healthcare in it, plays a significant role in the lack responsibility of healthcare professionals in this space. Therefore, this paper presents a discussion of the current landscape of the triple threat of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution, while emphasising the contribution of healthcare professionals to it. Furthermore, interrelated concepts such as planetary health and eco-anxiety are briefly discussed. This perspective paper also presents several key prospective research areas that may lay the foundation for motivating healthcare professionals to play an active role in preventing and mitigating the ecological crises humanity currently faces.

    Keywords: planetary health1, Climate change2, pollution3, biodiversity4, healthcare5, eco-anxiety6, ecological crisis7

    Received: 16 Jul 2024; Accepted: 05 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ihsan, Monrouxe and Bloomfield. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lynn V. Monrouxe, The University of Sydney, Darlington, Australia

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