Supporting a Healthy Planet, Healthy People and Health Equity through Urban and Territorial Planning.

The form of human settlements impacts on planetary health, population health and health equity. Yet goals for urban and territorial planning are only tangentially linked to public health outcomes. The WHO and UN-Habitat support actions to bring health to the fore in planning and design of human settlements, recently publishing 'Integrating Health in Urban and Territorial Planning: a sourcebook' focusing on 'why' action is needed, 'how' to initiate it; and curating several existing resources on 'what' to do. Recommendations for research, policy and practice include calls for rapid development of closer relationships between public health and spatial planning.

Urban Climate Policy and Action through a Health Lens-An Untapped Opportunity.

Motivated by a growing recognition of the climate emergency, reflected in the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), we outline untapped opportunities to improve health through ambitious climate actions in cities. Health is a primary reason for climate action yet is rarely integrated in urban climate plans as a policy goal. This is a missed opportunity to create sustainable alliances across sectors and groups, to engage a broad set of stakeholders, and to develop structural health promotion. In this statement, we first briefly review the literature on health co-benefits of urban climate change strategies and make the case for health-promoting climate action; we then describe barriers to integrating health in climate action. We found that the evidence-base is often insufficiently policy-relevant to be impactful. Research rarely integrates the complexity of real-world systems, including multiple and dynamic impacts of strategies, and consideration of how decision-making processes contend with competing interests and short-term electoral cycles. Due to siloed-thinking and restrictive funding opportunities, research often falls short of the type of evidence that would be most useful for decision-making, and research outputs can be cryptic to decision makers. As a way forward, we urge researchers and stakeholders to engage in co-production and systems thinking approaches. Partnering across sectors and disciplines is urgently needed so pathways to climate change mitigation and adaptation fully embrace their health-promoting potential and engage society towards the huge transformations needed. This commentary is endorsed by the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) and the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) and accompanies a sister statement oriented towards stakeholders (published on the societies' websites).

Recent Advances in Health Impact Assessment and Health in All Policies Implementation: Lessons from an International Convening in Barcelona.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Health in All Policies (HiAP) are policy tools used to include health considerations in decision-making processes across sectors such as transportation, education, and criminal justice that can play a role in improving health and equity. This article summarizes proceedings from an international convening of HIA and HiAP experts held in July 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. The presentations and panel discussions included different models, best practices, and lessons learned, including from government, international banks, think tanks, and academia. Participants discussed ideas from around the world for cross-sector collaboration to advance health. The convening covered the following topics: community engagement, building greater understanding of and support for HiAP, and exploring how mandates for HIA and HiAP approaches may advance health and equity.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Planetary Health. A Critical Review of Epidemiology, Prevention, Clinical Characteristics and Treatments for Oral, Head and Neck Health Professionals. Do We Have a Roadmap?

Abstract Introduction Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is potentially the greatest global public health crisis of this century. This disease emerged as an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, the capital city of the Hubei province in China, in December 2019. Otolaryngologists, head and neck surgeons and dentists are at an increased risk of occupational disease. Objective The present review summarizes currently published evidence of Covid-19 epidemiology, clinical characteristics, treatment and prevention. No proven effective treatments for this disease currently exist. Data Synthesis COVID-19 started from a zoonotic transmission event associated with a large seafood market that also traded in live wild animals, and it soon became clear that efficient person-to-person transmission was also occurring. Symptoms are varied, and not all patients develop all of them. Conclusion Social distancing seems to have been successful in several places in the world. However, this recommendation alone is not enough to contain the disease, and it is not a long-term solution. Large-scale testing by health professionals of representative samples of the population may give an estimate of the progression of the disease. Different treatments are under test and bring hope of a cure to the population. However, no current treatments (April 27, 2020) have been proven to be the key to success in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Planetary health is a useful concept to understand the current drivers of this pandemic and to draw a roadmap for science and healthcare that may guide actions to fight economic depression and ensure a healthy recovery.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Planetary Health. A Critical Review of Epidemiology, Prevention, Clinical Characteristics and Treatments for Oral, Head and Neck Health Professionals. Do We Have a Roadmap?

Introduction Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is potentially the greatest global public health crisis of this century. This disease emerged as an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, the capital city of the Hubei province in China, in December 2019. Otolaryngologists, head and neck surgeons and dentists are at an increased risk of occupational disease. Objective The present review summarizes currently published evidence of Covid-19 epidemiology, clinical characteristics, treatment and prevention. No proven effective treatments for this disease currently exist. Data Synthesis COVID-19 started from a zoonotic transmission event associated with a large seafood market that also traded in live wild animals, and it soon became clear that efficient person-to-person transmission was also occurring. Symptoms are varied, and not all patients develop all of them. Conclusion Social distancing seems to have been successful in several places in the world. However, this recommendation alone is not enough to contain the disease, and it is not a long-term solution. Large-scale testing by health professionals of representative samples of the population may give an estimate of the progression of the disease. Different treatments are under test and bring hope of a cure to the population. However, no current treatments (April 27, 2020) have been proven to be the key to success in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Planetary health is a useful concept to understand the current drivers of this pandemic and to draw a roadmap for science and healthcare that may guide actions to fight economic depression and ensure a healthy recovery.

Carta de Porto Alegre sobre Saúde Planetária (1º Simpósio Internacional de Saúde Planetária, Porto Alegre, 2017) / Porto Alegre Charter on Planetary Health (1st International Symposium on Planetary Health, Porto Alegre, 2017) / Carta de Porto Alegre sobre Salud Planetaria (1º Simposio Internacional de Salud Planetaria, Porto Alegre, 2017)

Os participantes do 1º Simpósio Internacional de Saúde Planetária, reunidos em Porto Alegre, propõem que se dissemine a discussão do tema e se articule a resposta e a contribuição do sistema de saúde aos crescentes desafios que enfrenta a saúde da população decorrentes da mudança climática, poluição, redução da biodiversidade e outros fatores ambientais

The participants of the 1st International Symposium on Planetary Health, held in Porto Alegre, propose to disseminate the discussion of the theme and articulate the response and contribution of the health system to the growing challenges facing the health of the population due to climate change, pollution, reduction of biodiversity and other environmental factors.

Los participantes del 1º Simposio Internacional de Salud Planetaria, reunidos en Porto Alegre, proponen la diseminación de la discusión del tema y articulación de la respuesta y la contribución del sistema de salud a los crecientes desafíos que enfrenta la salud de la población derivada del cambio climático, contaminación, reducción de la biodiversidad y otros factores ambientales.

Indicators linking health and sustainability in the post-2015 development agenda.

The UN-led discussion about the post-2015 sustainable development agenda provides an opportunity to develop indicators and targets that show the importance of health as a precondition for and an outcome of policies to promote sustainable development. Health as a precondition for development has received considerable attention in terms of achievement of health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), addressing growing challenges of non-communicable diseases, and ensuring universal health coverage. Much less attention has been devoted to health as an outcome of sustainable development and to indicators that show both changes in exposure to health-related risks and progress towards environmental sustainability. We present a rationale and methods for the selection of health-related indicators to measure progress of post-2015 development goals in non-health sectors. The proposed indicators show the ancillary benefits to health and health equity (co-benefits) of sustainable development policies, particularly those to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to environmental change. We use illustrative examples from four thematic areas: cities, food and agriculture, energy, and water and sanitation. Embedding of a range of health-related indicators in the post-2015 goals can help to raise awareness of the probable health gains from sustainable development policies, thus making them more attractive to decision makers and more likely to be implemented than before.

Environmental and occupational interventions for primary prevention of cancer: a cross-sectorial policy framework.

BACKGROUND: Nearly 13 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths occur worldwide each year; 63% of cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. A substantial proportion of all cancers are attributable to carcinogenic exposures in the environment and the workplace. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop an evidence-based global vision and strategy for the primary prevention of environmental and occupational cancer. METHODS: We identified relevant studies through PubMed by using combinations of the search terms "environmental," "occupational," "exposure," "cancer," "primary prevention," and "interventions." To supplement the literature review, we convened an international conference titled "Environmental and Occupational Determinants of Cancer: Interventions for Primary Prevention" under the auspices of the World Health Organization, in Asturias, Spain, on 17-18 March 2011. DISCUSSION: Many cancers of environmental and occupational origin could be prevented. Prevention is most effectively achieved through primary prevention policies that reduce or eliminate involuntary exposures to proven and probable carcinogens. Such strategies can be implemented in a straightforward and cost-effective way based on current knowledge, and they have the added benefit of synergistically reducing risks for other noncommunicable diseases by reducing exposures to shared risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Opportunities exist to revitalize comprehensive global cancer control policies by incorporating primary interventions against environmental and occupational carcinogens.

From the Earth Summit to Rio+20: integration of health and sustainable development.

In 2012, world leaders will meet at the Rio+20 conference to advance sustainable development--20 years after the Earth Summit that resulted in agreement on important principles but insufficient action. Many of the development goals have not been achieved partly because social (including health), economic, and environmental priorities have not been addressed in an integrated manner. Adverse trends have been reported in many key environmental indicators that have worsened since the Earth Summit. Substantial economic growth has occurred in many regions but nevertheless has not benefited many populations of low income and those that have been marginalised, and has resulted in growing inequities. Variable progress in health has been made, and inequities are persistent. Improved health contributes to development and is underpinned by ecosystem stability and equitable economic progress. Implementation of policies that both improve health and promote sustainable development is urgently needed.

Growing the field of health impact assessment in the United States: an agenda for research and practice.

Health impact assessment (HIA) methods are used to evaluate the impact on health of policies and projects in community design, transportation planning, and other areas outside traditional public health concerns. At an October 2004 workshop, domestic and international experts explored issues associated with advancing the use of HIA methods by local health departments, planning commissions, and other decisionmakers in the United States. Workshop participants recommended conducting pilot tests of existing HIA tools, developing a database of health impacts of common projects and policies, developing resources for HIA use, building workforce capacity to conduct HIAs, and evaluating HIAs. HIA methods can influence decisionmakers to adjust policies and projects to maximize benefits and minimize harm to the public's health.