The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness launches Call to Action
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Climate Action Working Group (CAWG) has launched the Call to Action for Environmentally Sustainable Practices in the Eye Health Sector and the accompanying Guide for Environmentally Sustainable Practices in the Eye Health Sector.
Both resources are a culmination of 18 months of stakeholder collaboration across continents and disciplines to develop the tailored eye health content. Themes and resources from the UN agencies, World Health Organisation, Health Care Without Harm and the Lancet underpin the Call and Guide, the key areas of action in the Guide have direct links to Sustainable Development Goals, advocating increased action to achieve the Sustainable Development 2030 Agenda.
Eye health is being affected by environmental degradation, air pollution and climate change. In addition to that, climate change will disrupt eye health service delivery. At the same time healthcare is a massive consumer of resources and major emitter of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Call to Action for Environmentally Sustainable Practices in the Eye Health Sector highlights opportunities for the eye health sector to show leadership and accelerate efforts to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change through prioritizing key actions.
There are significant co-benefits to the health sector and its beneficiaries in integrating climate and environmental strategies from better health through higher activity levels, a reduction in environmental pollution and reducing the adverse effects of climate change leading to increased productivity, improved quality of services and reduced costs. Doing nothing, will seriously hamper any efforts to keep the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C to avoid the risk of potentially catastrophic climate breakdown and its inevitable impact on eye health, on top of any financial and reputational risk.
These 10 key areas of action include leadership, advocacy, sustainable procurement, facilities management, service delivery, education, research, and collaboration. The accompanying Guide for Environmentally Sustainable Practices in the Eye Health Sector provides tools and resources to support organizations along this journey towards mitigating their own climate impacts.
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