The Academic Health Institutions’ Declaration on Planetary Health was officially unveiled at ICAM 2023. We are thrilled about the positive response it has received from the international community so far! The declaration calls on all academic health institutions to take immediate action to halt both the negative impact of their activities on the planet’s natural systems and to institute adaptive and regenerative measures. It details an action plan for academic health institutions to advance planetary health education, research, and advocacy.
The declaration is just a start and there is still so much work to be done. The AFMC is strongly committed to developing resources and supports for our faculties of medicine to meet the commitments of the declaration. We have established a new AFMC Planetary and Global Health Committee to act as a national collective to enable and support implementations of the declaration across Canadian medical schools. We also focused our annual AFMC Board of Directors’ Invitational Event during ICAM 2023 on the importance of academic health institutions’ role in addressing the impact of climate change on health through education, research and institutional behaviour. During this event, participants identified ways their organization could contribute to enacting the commitments of the planetary health declaration. We are also working with national learner organizations to support a planetary health collaborative with the members of the Canadian Medical Forum to promote coordinated action. This collaborative is anticipated to kick-off over the next few months.
The declaration is intended for and welcomes sign-on from all academic health institutions, relevant organizations, healthcare professionals, and concerned individuals throughout the world. We hope that the declaration may inspire the academic health community across the world to find ways in our own lives and professions to join in the work towards achieving worldwide environmentally sustainable health systems. For more information, to read the declaration, and to become a signatory, please visit our website at: https://www.afmc.ca/initiatives/planetaryhealthdeclaration/https://www.afmc.ca/initiatives/planetaryhealthdeclaration/
