Environment, Climate and Kids: Time to Act

 Environment, Climate and Kids: Time to Act

May 24, 2022, on the heels of the launch of the Unicef Report Card 17, Children’s Healthcare Canada hosted a virtual pop-up event focused on climate change and kids. We explored the relationship between children’s health and the environment, and how health systems can be better prepared for natural disasters and their impact on children.

Catherine Clark moderated the afternoon complete with four interconnected sessions:  

1. The Impacts of Climate Change on Children’s Health: What we are seeing now and what we might anticipate in the months/years to come. Dr. Anna Gunz,  Paediatric Intensive Care Doctor at Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Center 

2. Preparing Children’s Health Systems for Natural Disasters and Their Impacts. This session addressed natural disasters and their impacts on delivering care to children including increased need for care, impact on staff, infrastructure damage and health’s role in recovery.  Dr. Mary McCaskill, Director of Medical Services and Clinical Governance at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network

3. A Healthy Response to Climate Change: Dr. Courtney Howard, Emergency Physician, Yellowknife Dene Territory, Clinical Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, UofC, Past President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment/ CAPE

4. An Environment Fit for Children: Advocating for Progressive Policies for Kids. A Closing Panel including Dr. Gunz, Dr. McCaskill and Dr. Howard addressed the opportunities to advocate to reduce the impacts of climate change on children and the health systems that support them.  

Watch the event recording below. 

 UNICEF Report Card 17 Launch