Rapid climate change poses direct and unprecedented challenges to human health on a global scale. These include the burden of disease from environmental risks—expected to rise steadily over the coming years—and direct and indirect effects on human health due to disruptions and shifts in services provided by ecosystems. In response to two major 2015 global climate change conventions—the “Paris Agreement” and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—PAHO's Special Program on Sustainable Development and Health Equity (SDE) held a symposium in 2015, “Climate-smart sustainable societies: addressing public health vulnerabilities and promoting sustainable adaptation now,” to contextualize these goals for the Region of the Americas.
This special supplement of the Pan American Journal of Public Health includes articles based on presentations and discussions from the aforementioned symposium, which underline the complexity of this topic. Together, they represent a contribution toward protecting human health from climate change, while implementing the global sustainable development agenda in a heterogeneous region.
Not so simple as it seems: tackling climate change and implementing the sustainable development goals in the Americas
Agnes Soares da Silva, Daniel Forsin Buss, Luiz A. Cassanha Galvão, Francisco Becerra-Posada
Editorial | PDF | Published 28 Sept
Air pollution management and control in Latin America and the Caribbean: implications for climate change [Gestión y control de la contaminación atmosférica en América Latina y el Caribe: implicaciones para el cambio climático]
Horacio Riojas-Rodríguez, Agnes Soares da Silva, José Luis Texcalac-Sangrador, and Grea Litai Moreno-Banda
Special Report | Abstract | PDF | Published 28 Sept
An effective public health program to reduce urban heat islands in Québec, Canada [Programa eficaz de salud pública para reducir las islas de calor urbano en Québec, Canada]
Mélanie Beaudoin, Pierre Gosselin
Special Report | Abstract | PDF | Published 28 Sept
An observatory to gather and disseminate information on the health-related effects of environmental and climate change [Un observatorio para recopilar y difundir información sobre los efectos del cambio ambiental y climático relacionados con la salud]
Christovam Barcellos, Emmanuel Roux, Pietro Ceccato, Pierre Gosselin, Antonio Miguel Monteiro, Vanderlei Pascoal de Matos, and Diego Ricardo Xavier
Special Report | Abstract | PDF | Published 28 Sept
Enhancing the sustainability and climate resiliency of health care facilities: a comparison of initiatives and toolkits [Mejora de la sostenibilidad y la resistencia de las instalaciones de atención sanitaria ante el cambio climático: iniciativas y recursos]
John Balbus, Peter Berry, Meagan Brettle, Shalini Jagnarine-Azan, Agnes Soares, Ciro Ugarte, Linda Varangu, Elena Villalobos Prats
Special Report | Abstract | PDF | Published 28 Sept
Carbon pollution increases health inequities: lessons in resilience from the most vulnerable [La contaminación por carbono empeora las inequidades sanitarias: enseñanzas de los más vulnerables sobre la capacidad de recuperación]
Kristie L. Ebi, Stephen B. Fawcett, Jerry Spiegel, Horacio Tovalin
Review | Abstract | PDF | Published 28 Sept
Health in all policies in the partnership for sustainable development [La salud en todas las políticas en la alianza en pro del desarrollo sostenible]
Paulo M. Buss, Luiz Eduardo Fonseca, Luiz Augusto C. Galvão, Kira Fortune, Caitlin Cook
Opinion & Analysis | Abstract | PDF | Published 28 Sept
Worker health and safety and climate change in the Americas: issues and research needs
[Salud y seguridad laboral y cambio climático en las Américas: temas clave y necesidades de investigación]
Max Kiefer, Julietta Rodríguez-Guzmán, Joanna Watson, Berna van Wendel de Joode, Donna Mergler, Agnes Soares da Silva
Current Topic | Abstract | PDF | Published 28 Sept