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Iyer HS, DeVille NV, Stoddard O, Cole J, Myers SS, Li H, Elliott EG, Jimenez MP, James P, Golden CD. Sustaining planetary health through systems thinking: Public health's critical role. SSM Popul Health 2021; 15:100844. [PMID: 34179331 PMCID: PMC8213960 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding and responding to adverse human health impacts of global environmental change will be a major priority of 21st century public health professionals. The emerging field of planetary health aims to face this challenge by studying and promoting policies that protect the health of humans and of the Earth's natural systems that support them. Public health, drawing on its experience of guiding policies to improve population health, has contributed to planetary health's development. Yet, few public health practitioners are familiar with planetary health's systems-oriented approaches for understanding relationships between economic development, environmental degradation, and human health. In this narrative review, we present key planetary health concepts and show how systems thinking has guided its development. We discuss historical approaches to studying impacts of economic development on human health and the environment. We then review novel conceptual frameworks adopted by planetary health scientists to study and forecast impacts of policies that influence human health and Earth's natural systems at varying spatiotemporal scales. We conclude by presenting examples of how applying the "Doughnut" model (an economic framework where the needs of people are met without overshooting the world's ecological limits) could guide policies for promoting health co-benefits to humans and natural systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hari S. Iyer
- Division of Population Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA,Corresponding author. Division of Population Sciences Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, USA.
| | - Nicole V. DeVille
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA
| | - Olivia Stoddard
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Jennifer Cole
- Geography Department, Royal Holloway University of London and Royal United Services Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Samuel S. Myers
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Huichu Li
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Elise G. Elliott
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA,Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Marcia P. Jimenez
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA,Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA
| | - Peter James
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA,Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA
| | - Christopher D. Golden
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA,Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
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Cole J, Dodds K. Unhealthy geopolitics: can the response to COVID-19 reform climate change policy? Bull World Health Organ 2021; 99:148-154. [PMID: 33551508 PMCID: PMC7856368 DOI: 10.2471/blt.20.269068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The geopolitics of pandemics and climate change intersect. Both are complex and urgent problems that demand collective action in the light of their global and trans-boundary scope. In this article we use a geopolitical framework to examine some of the tensions and contradictions in global governance and cooperation that are revealed by the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We argue that the pandemic provides an early warning of the dangers inherent in weakened international cooperation. The world's states, with their distinct national territories, are reacting individually rather than collectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries have introduced extraordinary measures that have closed, rather than opened up, international partnership and cooperation. Border closures, restrictions on social mixing, domestic purchase of public health supplies and subsidies for local industry and commerce may offer solutions at the national level but they do not address the global strategic issues. For the poorest countries of the world, pandemics join a list of other challenges that are exacerbated by pressures of scarce resources, population density and climate disruption. COVID-19's disproportionate impact on those living with environmental stresses, such as poor air quality, should guide more holistic approaches to the geopolitical intersection of public health and climate change. By discussing unhealthy geopolitics, we highlight the urgent need for a coordinated global response to addressing challenges that cannot be approached unilaterally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Cole
- Geography Department, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, England
| | - Klaus Dodds
- Geography Department, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, England
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Zhu YG, Zhao Y, Zhu D, Gillings M, Penuelas J, Ok YS, Capon A, Banwart S. Soil biota, antimicrobial resistance and planetary health. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2019; 131:105059. [PMID: 31374443 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 134] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
The concept of planetary health acknowledges the links between ecosystems, biodiversity and human health and well-being. Soil, the critical component of the interconnected ecosystem, is the most biodiverse habitat on Earth, and soil microbiomes play a major role in human health and well-being through ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, pollutant remediation and synthesis of bioactive compounds such as antimicrobials. Soil is also a natural source of antimicrobial resistance, which is often termed intrinsic resistance. However, increasing use and misuse of antimicrobials in humans and animals in recent decades has increased both the diversity and prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in soils, particularly in areas affected by human and animal wastes, such as organic manures and reclaimed wastewater, and also by air transmission. Antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance are two sides of the sword, while antimicrobials are essential in health care; globally, antimicrobial resistance is jeopardizing the effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs, thus threatening human health. Soil is a crucial pathway through which humans are exposed to antimicrobial resistance determinants, including those harbored by human pathogens. In this review, we use the nexus of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance as a focus to discuss the role of soil in planetary health and illustrate the impacts of soil microbiomes on human health and well-being. This review examines the sources and dynamics of antimicrobial resistance in soils and uses the perspective of planetary health to track the movement of antimicrobial-resistance genes between environmental compartments, including soil, water, food and air.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong-Guan Zhu
- State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
| | - Yi Zhao
- Section for Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsenvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Dong Zhu
- Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Michael Gillings
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Josep Penuelas
- CSIC, Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Yong Sik Ok
- Korea Biochar Research Center, Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Anthony Capon
- Planetary Health Platform, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Steve Banwart
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
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