How far have family doctor organisations around the world progressed in protecting planetary health?

Terry Kemple is a retired GP living in Bristol. He is a vice chair of WONCA Working Party on Planetary Health and past President of the Royal College of General Practitioners. He is on X: @TKemple

Sankha Randenikumara is a Family Physician and a GP Educator from Sri Lanka. He is the immediate past Young Doctors’ Lead of WONCA and the Chair Elect of WONCA Working Party on Planetary Health. He is on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sankha-randenikumara-51b86147

Ozden Gokdemir is a family physician living in İzmir as Assoc Prof at Izmir University of Economics. She is chair of the WONCA Working Party on Planetary Health and past lead of VdGM Mental Health SIG, member of the scientific board of EURIPA. She is on X: @OzdenGokdemir and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%C3%B6zden-g%C3%B6kdemir-555bb016b/

Human activity is damaging the environment, which harms people’s health and can make it harder to provide medical care. We need to take urgent action to protect planetary health. Because the damage often hurts marginalized communities more, the cause of equity and justice calls for action.

Family doctors need to know how to reduce their environmental impact and prepare for climate change effects like worse flooding and over-heating. Organisations supporting family doctors can help by:

• Teaching doctors about sustainable healthcare.
• Supporting green initiatives.
• Helping the communities most affected by environmental challenges.
• Researching how climate change impacts health and finding solutions.
• Making their own operations environmentally friendly.

World Family Doctor Day 2024 and the WONCA Survey

The theme for World Family Doctor Day on May 19, 2024, was “Healthy Planet, Healthy People”. To mark this, the World Organisation of Family Doctors’ (WONCA) Working Party on Planetary Health surveyed its 133 member organizations (MOs) across 111 countries. The goal was to learn what actions MOs are taking to address climate change and improve planetary health, and how WONCA can better support them.

The survey had 22 questions about actions to control global warming and protect the planet. It took about 10 minutes to complete the survey, with an extra question for comments. After a few reminders, 34 MOs (26%) from 33 countries (30%) completed the survey. 15 (44%) were from World Bank designated high income countries, 11 (32%) from upper middle, 7 (21%) from lower middle and 1 (3%) from a low income country. The breakdown of the responded MOs is as follows according to WONCA regions: 2 MOs from Africa, 3 from Asia Pacific, 5 from East Mediterranean region, 9 from Europe, 6 from Iberoamerican region, 4 from North America region and 5 from South Asia region. The remaining 99 MOs (74%) did not respond, which suggests they may not have taken any actions yet.

Of the 133 membership organisations sent the survey, the results show that at least:

• 17% have officially recognised that climate change is a serious health crisis
• 17% have organised session/sessions to address planetary health related issues for their members
• 16% have educated their members on the links between the climate change and health
• 13% have acknowledged the link between climate change and health inequities
• 11% have published an article or articles for their organisation’s newsletter or journal regarding planetary health to educate members
• 10% have appointed a working group or lead person for planetary health/environmental/sustainability issues
• 10% have made sure that caring for the environment is a key part of how their organisation runs
• 10% have campaigned on mitigating and adapting to the planetary crisis
• 9% have educated the public on the links between the climate and health
• 8% have included planetary health related topics in their curriculum for family medicine/general practice training
• 7% have prioritised and promoted the use of plant-based and sustainably sourced food
• 6% have adopted a sustainable event policy (or WONCA’s sustainable event policy)
• 4% have published a plan to reduce carbon emissions within their organisation
• 4% have stopped investing their organisations funds in fossil fuels
• 3% have implemented a plan to improve environmental sustainability in family practice
• 2% have signed the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
• 1.5% have funded or paid a lead person for their work on environmental and sustainability issues
• 1.5% have implemented a travel policy for their members and staff that reduces their greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact of travel
• 44% of the 34 member organisations that completed the survey are willing to share educational or implementation materials or published articles in a globally accessible repository.

What’s Next?

The survey highlights the need for Family Doctor Organisations to do more. Not surprisingly the response rates and actions taken are lower in the MOs from low- and middle-income countries.

The results can help all the WONCA member organisations evaluate themselves in key areas and compare themselves with others. For example, it can:

• Identify strengths and areas for improvement in protecting planetary health.
• Encourage sharing of resources between organizations to facilitate finding and spreading best practices.
• Highlight specific resources to support planetary health education.
• Be a baseline to track progress on implementing planetary health education.
• Help build a global community of family doctors interested in planetary health
• Move the planetary health movement forward to create a healthier, fairer world

 WONCA plans to provide better support by:

1. Encouraging active participation of member organisations in its online discussion group and on its executive group
2. Encouraging MOs that have done little to do more by offering resources and support
3. Adding educational and implementation materials in a repository on its website
4. Repeating the survey in 1 year

There is still a long way to go but less and less time to make a difference. WONCA’s Working Party on Planetary Health has in its logo the fable of the hummingbird ‘to do the best it can’. High income countries like the UK should be providing robust models of senior leadership that expand the evidence base about the problems and solutions and improve communication to, and engagement with family doctors.

Featured image by Markus Spiske on Unsplash