Moving the healthcare community to shift to an environmentally sustainable practice isn't something that can be done by a handful of people. It requires a collective effort.
And so, the first thing on the to-do list: Engage doctors in the climate conversation.
A webinar, Greening Healthcare: the Global Awakening to a Climate Crisis, had been organised with the Young Fellows Chapter of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in February this year. We had local speakers from Kwong Wah Hospital sharing about climate issues and green measures that are being done within the institution. We also had Dr Amy Collins, Senior Clinical Advisor at Health Care Without Harm, talk about how she is engaging and supporting physicians to make changes in North America.
We had around 50 doctors from 10 different specialties joining the event. The sharing had been inspiring, and feedback from the audience was very positive. Here are some of their comments about the event:
"Almost unaware of the issues involved prior to this event."
"I am always interested in environmental protection issues and how I can apply it in my practice. I would like to know more about the specific and practical things I can do to go green in medical practice."
"It's an important and largely neglected issue of medicine worldwide. More of this kind of seminar should be available to the profession and the public, in an effort to push the society and the authority to make changes in the right direction."
It was a great delight to see fellow doctors in Hong Kong opening up to this issue and wanting to make changes to our medical service. There is much work to do in raising awareness among different stakeholders in the industry, and this is definitely a good start :D
Comments