Public health chief urges climate action for the sake of health
Oxfordshire County Council’s Director of Public Health, Ansaf Azhar, is calling on residents to take individual action to tackle climate change for the benefit of their health.
In his annual report Ansaf Azhar has called climate change one of most significant threats to the population both in Oxfordshire and globally.
He said: “Our environment significantly influences our health. Recent flooding in Oxfordshire brought this into the spotlight, where some suffered a loss of livelihood and we saw a negative impact on mental health and wellbeing. These events are going to be more common going forward.
“This is why I want to talk about the health impacts of climate change and the positive benefits of climate action for individuals, families and communities.
“The actions that we can all take to improve climate health also immediately improve our health and the health of others. All of us should to take positive climate action not just because of the environmental benefits realised years ahead, but the health benefits we will get from it immediately. This means better health for everyone – whether we are talking about newborn babies, children, teenagers, working-age adults or older people.
“Everyone and every organisation has an important role to play. But individuals cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. We need real structural change and joint partnership actions to mitigate and adapt to our changing climate and to improve health.
“We are already working hard together with partners to address our changing climate – with immediate and longer-term positive benefits for health and wellbeing, but there is still plenty more that we can all do.”
Producing an annual report is a requirement for all directors of public health. The reports look independently at issues which affect the health and wellbeing of the population in Oxfordshire and make recommendations for improvement.
The report is available to read in full on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.
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