December 20, 2022

Clara Phillips

The end of 2022 is fast approaching! As we reflect on the past year, while there have been some strides against combating COVID-19 severity, we are also currently seeing a growing swarm of other infectious diseases. There is much contributing to this specific influenza season, but, being an environmental sustainability blog, let’s step back and look at the infectious disease battle from another perspective: climate change.

What many don’t think about is how climate-related factors can drive an increase in infectious disease emergence and re-emergence. Furthering our knowledge of the interconnectedness of environmental, wildlife, and human health will help us coordinate strong epidemic and pandemic responses.

The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) has been funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada through the Infectious Disease and Climate Change Fund for the “Creating a national forum for knowledge exchange, capacity building and collaboration to address infectious diseases and climate change” project to run July, 2020, to March, 2023. Since the project started, a comprehensive list of webinars, factsheets and reports has been compiled, which can be found here.

In spirit of the holidays and an homage to the well-known song, “12 days of Christmas”, our environmental committee has picked 12 resources to share from the CPHA project and from other platforms related to climate change and infectious disease. If you know the song, hum along in your head (or sing out loud!) as you read through the list!

(12) Webinar Series

Access the full webinar series on infectious disease and climate change, presented by the CPHA. Topics range from predictive models of water quality, to monitoring invasive mosquitoes through a citizen science approach.

(11) Climate Adaptation Video

Learn about the disproportionate effect that climate change has on people with disabilities.

(10) Health Professional Toolkit

Read about the Climate Change Toolkit put together for Healthcare Professionals by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

(9) Petition for Bill S-5

Bill S-5 aims to modernize the outdated Canadian Environmental Protection Act so that it can better protect against current environmental threats. Sign the petition to help push the bill through the House of Commons!

(8) Health Costs of Climate Change

Learn about the costs of climate change on Canada’s healthcare system, presented by the Canadian Climate Institute.

(7) Lancet Countdown Report

Read the 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, describing the effects of a changing climate on infectious disease spread, heat-related deaths, economic losses, food security, and more.

(6) Surveillance of Lyme Disease

Learn about the surveillance of Lyme disease, the main vector-borne disease transmitted by ticks, and how it is progressing northward in Canada due to climate change, causing a significant increase in the number of annually reported cases.

(5) World Community Grid

Contribute to valuable Covid-19 research from the comfort of your home as a Citizen Scientist!

(4) Building Retrofits

Efficiency improvements from investing in building retrofits not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but can produce better indoor air quality while protecting people from the cold and extreme heat. Read this factsheet to learn how this can be done!

(3) The 3 West Project

Read about the ‘Tick-borne and Climate Change – 3 West’ project aiming to improve the response capacity to address impacts of climate change on tick-borne diseases.

(2) Teacher’s Toolkit

Learn some tools for children to help build awareness of climate sensitive infectious diseases in Canada.

(1) One Health Approach

The One Health Approach emphasizes the shared responsibility among the medical community, governments and general public to establishing a universal pandemic response and prevention capacity. Enjoy this e-book written by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Looking for some green tips and tricks as you prepare for the holiday season? Read our post from 2020!

Wishing you all Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.