Climate change and the public health imperative for supporting migration as adaptation.

In an era of accelerating global climate change, human mobility has reached unprecedented levels. While it is acknowledged that many cases of human migration in the context of climate change are forced or involuntary, particularly where adaptation measures have failed to achieve sufficient resiliency of communities against impending slow- and sudden-onset disasters. There are also many cases where migration is, itself, a voluntary adaptive measure to secure otherwise unattainable physical safety and life-sustaining resources. It is in these cases that migration can be viewed as adaptation. Under the right policy conditions, it is possible for such adaptive migration to save countless lives. Moreover, it can achieve remarkable health and well-being gains for otherwise vulnerable communities residing on environmentally degrading lands and disproportionately suffering from the health impacts of climate change. While several activists have spoken loudly on the topic of climate migration, emphasizing the human rights imperative for supportive global policy action, the public health community has not been equally vocal nor unanimous in its stance. This paper, a product of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) Environmental Health Working Group, aims to rectify this gap, by analyzing adaptive climate migration through a public health lens. In doing so, it argues that creating an enabling environment for adaptive climate migration is not just a human rights imperative, but also a public health one. This argument is supported by evidence demonstrating how creating such an enabling environment can synergistically support the fulfillment of key public health services and functions, as outlined under the internationally endorsed Global Charter for the Public's Health of the WFPHA.

Strengthening Australia's Chemical Regulation.

Humans are exposed to a myriad of chemicals every day, some of which have been established to have deleterious effects on human health. Regulatory frameworks play a vital role in safeguarding human health through the management of chemicals and their risks. For this review, we focused on agricultural and veterinary (Agvet) chemicals and industrial chemicals, which are regulated, respectively, by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), and the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS). The current frameworks have been considered fragmented, inefficient, and most importantly, unsafe in prioritizing human health. We evaluated these frameworks, identified gaps, and suggested improvements that would help bring chemical regulation in Australia in line with comparative regulations in the EU, US, and Canada. Several weaknesses in the Australian frameworks include the lack of a national program to monitor chemical residues, slow pace in conducting chemical reviews, inconsistent risk management across states and territories, a paucity of research efforts on human health impacts, and inadequate framework assessment systems. Recommendations for Australia include establishing a national surveillance and chemical residue monitoring system, harmonizing risk assessment and management across jurisdictions, improving chemical review efficiency, and developing regular performance review mechanisms to ensure that human health is protected.

Trajectories of Symptom Severity in Children with Autism: Variability and Turning Points through the Transition to School.

This study examined the trajectories of autistic symptom severity in an inception cohort of 187 children with ASD assessed across four time points from diagnosis to age 10. Trajectory groups were derived using multivariate cluster analysis. A two trajectory/cluster solution was selected. Change in trajectory slopes revealed a turning point marked by plateauing in symptom reduction during the period of transition to school (age 6) for one of the two trajectories. Trajectories were labelled: Continuously Improving (27%) and Improving then Plateauing (73% of sample). Children in the two trajectories differed in levels of symptom severity, language, cognitive, and adaptive functioning skills. Study findings can inform the development of more personalized services for children with ASD transitioning into the school system.

The health impacts of waste incineration: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Waste incineration is increasingly used to reduce waste volume and produce electricity. Several incinerators have recently been proposed in Australia and community groups are concerned about health impacts. An overview of the evidence on health effects has been needed. METHOD: A systematic review of English language literature for waste incinerators and health using PRISMA methodology. RESULTS: A range of adverse health effects were identified, including significant associations with some neoplasia, congenital anomalies, infant deaths and miscarriage, but not for other diseases. Ingestion was the dominant exposure pathway for the public. Newer incinerator technologies may reduce exposure. DISCUSSION: Despite these findings, diverse chemicals, poor study methodologies and inconsistent reporting of incinerator technology specifications precludes firmer conclusions about safety. CONCLUSION: Older incinerator technology and infrequent maintenance schedules have been strongly linked with adverse health effects. More recent incinerators have fewer reported ill effects, perhaps because of inadequate time for adverse effects to emerge. A precautionary approach is required. Waste minimisation is essential. Implications for public health: Public health practitioners can offer clearer advice about adverse health effects from incinerators. We suggest improved research design and methods to make future studies more robust and comparable. We offer ideas for better policy and regulation.

GPs at the Deep End: Identifying and addressing social disadvantage wherever it lies.

BACKGROUND: GPs at the Deep End first started in Scotland and brought together Scottish general practitioners (GPs) working in the 100 most deprived practices in the country. The group continues to provide peer support, advocacy, training and research opportunities to learn more about general practice in disadvantaged areas. In 2016, Canberra GPs came together to form a local Deep End group, supported by the Scottish initiators. OBJECTIVE: To describe the process and benefits of beginning a local Deep End group in the Canberra region. DISCUSSION: The Canberra Deep End group includes GPs working with a diverse group of patients from disadvantaged areas. Since its inception, the group has met regularly to discuss local issues, advocate for change in local government policy, and provide peer support and learning opportunities. We highlight this powerful movement to Australian GPs working in areas of disadvantage and encourage others to develop their own Deep End group.

Preventing heat-related disease in general practice

Background: The burden of heat-related morbidity and mortality will increase as heatwaves become more frequent and intense as a result of global warming and climate disruption. The elderly and those with chronic disease are worst affected. Most heat-vulnerable people are managed in general practice, and so general practitioners (GPs) need to begin planning for how to prevent and manage heat-related morbidity and mortality. Objective: The aim of this article is to introduce GPs to heat-related morbidity and mortality, present a model to help guide thinking about prevention of heat­related disease, and provide examples of actions that practices and practitioners can take. Discussion: GPs need to be aware of heat stress as a potential cause of morbidity and mortality. Their role crosses the three preventive levels: 1) advocating for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions (primordial); 2) identifying vulnerable people in their practices; and 3) working with these patients and their relatives to incorporate primary and secondary prevention strategies in care planning.

Valuing conservation benefits of disease control in wildlife: A choice experiment approach to bovine tuberculosis management in New Zealand's native forests.

We assess the non-monetary environmental benefits that accrue incidentally in New Zealand (NZ) from pest management conducted primarily to control an animal disease, bovine tuberculosis (TB). TB is an infectious disease that is one of the world's most serious animal health problems and, in many parts of the developing world, still a major mortality risk for humans. The incidence of TB in New Zealand (NZ) farmed livestock has been reduced progressively over the last 20 years, largely due to extensive and sustained population control of the main wildlife reservoir of disease, the introduced brushtail possum. Possums are also major pests that threaten indigenous forest biodiversity, and so extensive possum control for TB mitigation also incidental benefits conservation, but the extent and public value of this benefit has yet to be quantified. We conducted a choice experiment survey of the NZ public in an effort to value the native forest biodiversity benefits of TB-related possum control. We find strong public support for conservation outcomes consequent to TB-possum control in public native forests. The public place substantial value on the most observable biodiversity benefits of TB possum control, such as improved forest canopies and presence of native birds. The benefits, costs and values of TB-possum control are discussed in relation to the future directives of NZ's TB control programme, which is headed toward first regional and then national level disease eradication.

Differential Effects of Temperature Extremes on Hospital Admission Rates for Respiratory Disease between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory.

The health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians may be exacerbated by climate change if temperature extremes have disproportionate adverse effects on Indigenous people. To explore this issue, we analysed the effect of temperature extremes on hospital admissions for respiratory diseases, stratified by age, Indigenous status and sex, for people living in two different climates zones in the Northern Territory during the period 1993-2011. We examined admissions for both acute and chronic respiratory diagnoses, controlling for day of the week and seasonality variables. Our analysis showed that: (1) overall, Indigenous hospital admission rates far exceeded non-Indigenous admission rates for acute and chronic diagnoses, and Top End climate zone admission rates exceeded Central Australia climate zone admission rates; (2) extreme cold and hot temperatures were associated with inconsistent changes in admission rates for acute respiratory disease in Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and older adults; and (3) no response to cold or hot temperature extremes was found for chronic respiratory diagnoses. These findings support our two hypotheses, that extreme hot and cold temperatures have a different effect on hospitalisations for respiratory disease between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and that these health risks vary between the different climate zones. We did not, however, find that there were differing responses to temperature extremes in the two populations, suggesting that any increased vulnerability to climate change in the Indigenous population of the Northern Territory arises from an increased underlying risk to respiratory disease and an already greater existing health burden.

A Conceptual Framework for Planning Systemic Human Adaptation to Global Warming.

Human activity is having multiple, inter-related effects on ecosystems. Greenhouse gas emissions persisting along current trajectories threaten to significantly alter human society. At 0.85 °C of anthropogenic warming, deleterious human impacts are acutely evident. Additional warming of 0.5 °C-1.0 °C from already emitted CO2 will further intensify extreme heat and damaging storm events. Failing to sufficiently address this trend will have a heavy human toll directly and indirectly on health. Along with mitigation efforts, societal adaptation to a warmer world is imperative. Adaptation efforts need to be significantly upscaled to prepare society to lessen the public health effects of rising temperatures. Modifying societal behaviour is inherently complex and presents a major policy challenge. We propose a social systems framework for conceptualizing adaptation that maps out three domains within the adaptation policy landscape: acclimatisation, behavioural adaptation and technological adaptation, which operate at societal and personal levels. We propose that overlaying this framework on a systems approach to societal change planning methods will enhance governments' capacity and efficacy in strategic planning for adaptation. This conceptual framework provides a policy oriented planning assessment tool that will help planners match interventions to the behaviours being targeted for change. We provide illustrative examples to demonstrate the framework's application as a planning tool.

Limitations to Thermoregulation and Acclimatization Challenge Human Adaptation to Global Warming.

Human thermoregulation and acclimatization are core components of the human coping mechanism for withstanding variations in environmental heat exposure. Amidst growing recognition that curtailing global warming to less than two degrees is becoming increasing improbable, human survival will require increasing reliance on these mechanisms. The projected several fold increase in extreme heat events suggests we need to recalibrate health protection policies and ratchet up adaptation efforts. Climate researchers, epidemiologists, and policy makers engaged in climate change adaptation and health protection are not commonly drawn from heat physiology backgrounds. Injecting a scholarly consideration of physiological limitations to human heat tolerance into the adaptation and policy literature allows for a broader understanding of heat health risks to support effective human adaptation and adaptation planning. This paper details the physiological and external environmental factors that determine human thermoregulation and acclimatization. We present a model to illustrate the interrelationship between elements that modulate the physiological process of thermoregulation. Limitations inherent in these processes, and the constraints imposed by differing exposure levels, and thermal comfort seeking on achieving acclimatization, are then described. Combined, these limitations will restrict the likely contribution that acclimatization can play in future human adaptation to global warming. We postulate that behavioral and technological adaptations will need to become the dominant means for human individual and societal adaptations as global warming progresses.

Estimating risks of heat strain by age and sex: a population-level simulation model.

Individuals living in hot climates face health risks from hyperthermia due to excessive heat. Heat strain is influenced by weather exposure and by individual characteristics such as age, sex, body size, and occupation. To explore the population-level drivers of heat strain, we developed a simulation model that scales up individual risks of heat storage (estimated using Myrup and Morgan's man model "MANMO") to a large population. Using Australian weather data, we identify high-risk weather conditions together with individual characteristics that increase the risk of heat stress under these conditions. The model identifies elevated risks in children and the elderly, with females aged 75 and older those most likely to experience heat strain. Risk of heat strain in males does not increase as rapidly with age, but is greatest on hot days with high solar radiation. Although cloudy days are less dangerous for the wider population, older women still have an elevated risk of heat strain on hot cloudy days or when indoors during high temperatures. Simulation models provide a valuable method for exploring population level risks of heat strain, and a tool for evaluating public health and other government policy interventions.