[All] FW: [capenews-l] Exciting new mandate for action on environmental and climate health from CMA General Council!

[Susan Koswan]

Hi GRENers,

 

Welcome to Sept. Some good news on the Canadian medical front via CAPE - the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment: (edited by me, removing names, thank-you’s credits etc and “editorial” comment. 8-) 

 

Susan Koswan


The Canadian Medical Association's annual General Council meeting has been called the "Parliament of Canadian Medicine" and is the place where the CMA discusses priorities for the organization going forward.  CAPE is happy to report that this year's deliberations recently wrapped up in Ottawa and that our organization was able to contribute to some fantastic new energy around climate-health and environmental health in the medical community in Canada.

 

This was the first year that CAPE has had a booth at the CMA General Council and it was a tremendous success.  we were able to offer evidence-based materials on climate change and health, the health effects of coal-powered electricity generation, the health rationale for divestment from fossil fuels, and the effect of neonicotinoids on bees. There was a veritable buzz of activity around the CAPE booth as interested delegates came to us with their questions and a huge amount of useful connections were made with MDs from across Canada at all stages in their practice lives.  It is clear that environmental issues are increasingly on the minds of Canadian MDs.

 

This rising awareness of enviro-health and climate-health was translated into a strong policy mandate on the floor of the General Council! 

 

The following motions were passed by GC:

24. The Canadian Medical Association supports development of a process to assess potential environmental risks posed by new substances in products regulated under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations. (DM 5-26) 

 

25. The Canadian Medical Association calls on bodies that conduct environmental assessments of industrial projects to seek input from physicians. (DM 5-27)

26. The Canadian Medical Association supports efforts to protect arable land from non- agricultural development. (DM 5-28)

27. The Canadian Medical Association will seek to collaborate in developing educational materials outlining possible health hazards associated with exposure to wood smoke. (DM 5- 29)

28. The Canadian Medical Association will develop an action plan to promote the recommendations outlined in its policy, The Built Environment and Health. (DM 5-30)

29. The Canadian Medical Association will collaborate with other disciplines to ensure that the mutual benefits to health and the economy of climate action are more broadly understood and incorporated into policy. (DM 5-31) (This motion ... passed with a budget attached to it of ?$50,000...so some real action is possible!)

30. The Canadian Medical Association supports government efforts to phase out coal-fired electricity generation within a 10-year time limit. (DM 5-33) 

31. The Canadian Medical Association urges the Pest Management Regulatory Agency to re- evaluate the safety of neonic pesticides in Canada. (DM 5-34)  

There was also a “fossil-free” motion proposed for MD’s personal investments, with lots of discussion, but time ran out and it was not passed. 

 

Overall--an absolutely great week.  It felt as though the  energy may be shifting within the CMA towards taking real action along the lines of the BMA.  We were certainly helped by Jean Charest telling the group during his address that he felt climate change to be one of the greatest health challenges of the next decades. 

 

 

Thanks to all CAPE members and other CMA movers and shakers too numerous to name for your support as we work to get out the message that the Lancet meant business when it said that "Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century."  Coming on the heels of the great work done at the International Association for Ecology and Health's conference the week before in Montreal--there are plenty of signs that the health community will have a chance to not only contribute to, but be a catalyst for climate action efforts going forwards!  





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20140902/ae6741f7/attachment.html>