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Advocates for our future

Advocates for Our Future video

In this video Shweta Narayan will discuss the role of healthcare professionals as advocates to protect our future. Shweta is a Global Climate and Health Campaigner with Health Care Without Harm.

She has written a article, as a guest contributor for PLOS Global Public Health, From Healing Bodies to Healing Earth: Harnessing the Legacy of Health Activism in the Fight Against Climate Change and in 2021 gave a Ted talk about how “It’s impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet”

Health professionals have a long-standing tradition of standing up for the health and well-being of communities and influencing social change, spanning from challenging the tobacco industry’s deceitful practices and advocating for smoking regulations to exposing the dangers of lead and mercury exposure, mobilizing against the perils of nuclear war, and rallying for social justice issues like women’s rights and racial equity.

— Shweta Narayan, from Healing Bodies to Healing Earth: Harnessing the Legacy of Health Activism in the Fight Against Climate Change


Health professionals are seen as particularly credible advocates, and leveraging their potential can provide substantial impetus to efforts to reduce carbon emissions. This is particularly the case in LMICs, where they form a larger part of the economic and political elite. As has been shown in the covid response, health workers can work with researchers, media, and policymakers, as well as communities, to co-produce plans. This same thinking must be applied in embedding carbon reduction into the wider approach to universal health coverage.

—- Decarbonising healthcare in low and middle income countries: potential pathways to net zero emissions

  • Campaigns and advocacy guide for health professionals: “Reclaiming Health Activism in the Age of Climate Crisis”. This guide serves as a compelling roadmap, equipping health professionals with the knowledge, inspiration, and practical tools to step into their roles as potent advocates for climate action.
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How to Drive Sustainable Healthcare: Educate, Engage, and Empower

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