When the Australian Parliament recently passed the Safeguard Mechanism- the country’s most significant carbon emissions reduction legislation in over a decade- where was the health voice in the debate?
DEA’s Deputy Chair Dr Richard Yin writes in MJAInsight+ that despite climate change being recognised as the greatest health threat of the 21st century, no major health institution or medical college publicly advocated for strengthening the draft reforms first put forward by the government.
Unlike health care professionals’ resolve in countering the tobacco lobby, we have yet to mount a meaningful challenge against the fossil fuel lobby that also trades in a product that harms and seeks to maintain our addiction to it.
As doctors, we have a duty of care to our patients, communities, as well as our families to highlight the urgency of action.