Judith McInnes researcher at Monash University gives her views on the health impacts of climate change

Beyond Zero's Vivien Langford speaks to Judith McInnes, Researcher with the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University.

Judith talks about the seminar she is convening which will highlight the fact that climate change is a fundamental issue for health.

Judith McInnes interview

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Transcript

Vivien: I’d like to welcome Judith McInnes who is one of the convenors of a Climate Change and Health seminar to be held on Tuesday, 30 August. Judy is highly aware of the effects of climate change on our health because she’s a researcher at Monash University into reducing harm for the elderly in extreme hot weather. Welcome Judy.

Judy: Hello, how are you Vivien? It’s nice to speak to you.

Vivien: Thank you very much for speaking to us today. Can you just tell us about the seminar. Who’s it for, who’s in it and why have you organised it?

Judy: Well, this seminar is part of a series of seminars that we host here. I’m in the Centre of Research Excellence in Patient Safety which is based in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. We run a series of seminars through the year but we are particularly keen to have this seminar, to highlight the fact that climate change is a fundamental issue for health. It’s not just about economics and politics and so on, as you might think reading the paper.

In fact, in 2009 climate change was declared the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. So it really is a very important issue, even though it perhaps doesn’t get the profile it should. Because public health is really a concern of a number of areas in the community and a number of different groups, this seminar is really directed towards a very wide audience, not just health professionals – governments, local governments, government departments involved with planning and community development, environmental agencies, teachers, researchers and interested individuals. So really I think it has something for everyone.

Vivien: Judy, I noticed that the World Health Organization has made climate change, raising awareness about climate change and the impacts on health, a top priority. Are you hoping to get something special from this, to motivate the people who come, who may have been thinking about it but may not have a clarified goal in their mind? Are you hoping to really work them toward a certain consensus on any issues?

Judy: Well, it is interesting that the World Health Organization has made communication and education about the health impacts of climate change a priority. I think that just emphasises the importance of being able to communicate to all the people who are involved with public health and to engage them in the discussion. I suppose one of the most important things we are doing is informing people, so that they can then communicate these issues clearly and are able to engage in public debate about what we should do, and highlight the importance of this issue. That would definitely be one of the goals.

Vivien: One of the main things that we were just talking to Fiona Armstrong about was heat waves. We talked about the Victorian heat wave in 2009 and the havoc that caused in the system. There was also a terrible one in Europe earlier, in 2003 I think, and 70,000 people died. I remember thinking about that and the picture that came to my head was that there must have been elderly people in their rooms alone, their sons an daughters gone off to the coast for a holiday, or homeless people, or chronically ill people. They just couldn’t get hydrated. Is that how it works out in a heat wave? What happens?

Judy: I think that’s right. It was quite a remarkable situation – 70,000 excess deaths – in other words 70,000 more people died during that summer in Europe than were expected to die in that time. It’s taken quite a few years to study those heat waves and to work out what did happen. But the research now does show, as you’ve said, that it was particularly older people who died, mostly over 70, or 75, particularly people who were already sick and needed other people to care for them, and particularly if they were socially isolated and did not have a lot of contact outside their home.

Other groups definitely included the homeless – they were found to be particularly vulnerable. You can imagine why, because of lack of shelter and so on. Yes, that was very very nasty. From that experience advice has been developed for other countries. A lot of countries are very involved with developing heat wave plans. In Victoria there’s a heat wave plan.

Vivien: Could you tell us what these preventative measures would be. Since I’ve been preparing this program I’ve been thinking how you could get volunteers to go and help people, or ring people up and check that they’re OK. What preventative measures can be taken to protect vulnerable people?

Judy: Some countries do have quite organised systems. I think, in one of the American cities, they have a ‘block warden’ who goes and checks on people in that block. People take turns to do this and so on. In Victoria the advice is to look after yourself and keep an eye out for others. So if you know that there’s someone in your street who is an older person, perhaps lives on their own, keep an eye out for them. Make sure you see them as you normally would. And if you know them well, I suppose you could just knock on the door and just say ‘how are you going?’ or invite them into your house to spend a quiet afternoon in your air-conditioned lounge room, for example. Of course, some people might not be comfortable with that, but that’s just one measure.

Other measures are drinking plenty of water, keeping cool, whether it’s with a wet towel or putting your feet in a bucket of water or turning on the air-conditioner, if you’ve got one, or going somewhere where there is air-conditioning, like a shopping centre or a library ,for example. Another measure is preparing your house, if you know that’s it going to be hot the next day. If you have awning blinds or blinds you can pull down, that’s always a good thing to do. But remember to open windows when the cool change comes, of course, and keep it nice and cool. It’s very very important not to leave anyone, adult or child or pet, in a car. That’s a very dangerous situation.

Vivien: It’s always such a scandal, isn’t it, where there’s a child left outside the supermarket?

Judy: Exactly. Another measure is just avoiding the heat of the day. Don’t hang out the washing in the middle of the day. Don’t go for a run on a hot day, as people tend to do.

Vivien: That’s all very sensible and common sense in a way but I worry that that message isn’t really getting out. I don’t hear that message coming through the television or the newspapers or any other outlet. The media don’t seem to be highlighting these things. I think people are getting a bit better at bush fire awareness, at knowing what to do, practical things, but heat waves – you are just expected to know.

Judy: Look I think that’s a very important point. I think a lot of work still has to be done to put this message out in an accessible way, rather than just on a website or something., make it accessible to the people most likely to be harmed in a heat wave. I think there’s a lot of work to be done in that area, definitely. You’re right.

Vivien: One of the other things I was interested in, on the list of speakers – it looks like a tantalising seminar with such a lot in it – is that a few of the people are speaking on vector-borne diseases, which I think is like mosquitos, but perhaps you could explain it. Another talk is on food and water-borne disease. Can you explain what they are first of all, but how they are connected to the expected changes in climate?

Judy: That’s a good question. Well, vector-borne disease is a disease that is transmitted by vectors. They could be insects, ticks for example, or rats, and they transmit a disease agent, a virus or bacteria or micro-organism of some type, from one infected human or non-human creature to a human. So it could be from human to human or it could be, say, from a pig or a bird to a human. The vector is the creature that transmits it.

The one that we particularly know about, I suppose, is the mosquito because mosquitos transmit all sorts of diseases in many countries, for example malaria, dengue fever. In Victoria we know a little bit more about Ross River virus disease and Murray Valley encephalitis, for example. We don’t actually have malaria or dengue fever.

The thing with climate change is that, with altered rainfall patterns and perhaps warmer temperatures, the habitat for the infected creature or the vector mosquito can be altered. So, for example, if there’s a lot of water lying around, then mosquitos breed more easily. So they are available to transmit the disease more readily because there are more of them and people are more likely to get bitten. So the number of people that could get these infections and the geographical area in which this occurs can be influenced by changing rainfall patterns and increased temperatures and even things like changing tidal patterns in mangrove swamps. There’s a lot of work to be done to investigate all these issues and to observe what’s going on.

Vivien: But again, public education – because if you are not accustomed to having malaria in your population and gradually you start getting malaria, people would really need to be educated about that, wouldn’t they? It’s prevention rather than cure.

Judy: That’s right. Look I don’t think we are in great danger of getting malaria at the moment but certainly it’s important to …

Vivien: … to think ahead about it at least.

Judy: Exactly, and to understand trends and what’s happening in other countries and the theory behind it all. So that sounds like a very interesting talk, I think, that’s coming up there by one of our experts.

Vivien: I am looking forward to the education that will come out of it, in the popular form, out of this professional seminar, that will lead to more popularised forms of the information.

Judy: Well, exactly. I think that’s terribly important. The speakers are all very keen to make this information very accessible so that it’s not too difficult to digest.

Vivien: One issue that worries me is mental health. We think of climate change as a very physical thing – it will affect our physical health if we are caught up in a cyclone, or in a drought, or all the other aspects of climate change that might affect us physically. But mental health – Fiona talked a little bit about drought-stricken farmers committing suicide and that’s definitely part of it – I think a lot of mental health must come out of a feeling of helplessness.

You’ve got a speaker on mental health. I don’t want to ask you so much about that now, but what do you think, for the general population, for their mental health regarding climate change, which itself is a kind of depressing subject? A lot of people say ‘I don’t know how you could do that all the time on radio about climate, oh it’s so depressing’ but I, by taking action, feel quite positive. I feel quite inspired by the ongoing need to combat it. Can you give some advice to people on the health benefits of taking action on climate change?

Judy: Well, yes, I suppose. I’m not actually an expert on mental health. Just from a personal point of view, I think, we always feel better if we feel we are actually doing something positive and constructive. Certainly becoming better informed is the first step to knowing perhaps what one can do. I would imagine that would help – well it certainly makes me feel slightly more positive about the future.

Certainly I’m sure our speaker will discuss the fact that there is anxiety, or some evidence coming in for anxiety associated with worrying about the possible effects of climate change. So, I suppose becoming better informed about these things is all a very positive thing so that we can all engage in this conversation in a more informed way, and think about what to do next and move forward.

Vivien: That’s right and one thing I think is act together, rather than be divided. Our society seems so divided on this issue at the moment but eventually we’ll see the writing on the wall and act together, which should have a cohering kind of quality to it, which might help mental health too, not to feel so antagonistic all the time.

Judy: Yes, or powerless perhaps.

Vivien: Powerless, yes, that’s right. I’m really glad you are putting on this seminar. It must have been a lot of work getting it all together and talking to all the speakers and to make it a coherent thing. I wish you well with that. How can listeners find out more about the seminar?

Judy: They could look at the website – it’s crepatientsafety.org.au/seminars.

Vivien: Thank you very much. I really appreciate that very clear explanation of the seminar.

Judy: Thank you very much, Vivien, nice to speak to you.

transcript by Bronwyn L.