“We are facing the biggest challenge for the health of populations in the coming decades”, highlights to Expresso Luís Campos, president of the Portuguese Council for Health and Environment (CPSA), remembering that extreme phenomena linked to climate change are intensifying and increasing the risks of illness and death. “One in four deaths worldwide are associated with environmental factors, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)”, indicates the Health and Environment Report 2024, produced by the Portuguese Health and Environment Observatory, which will be presented this Thursday, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity are identified as the main culprits of a crisis that the doctor specializing in internal medicine considers, above all, “a public health emergency to which the sector has to respond”. And remember that, according to data from 2021, 8% of deaths in the country are linked to environmental factors.
Many respiratory infections, cardiovascular, diarrheal, pulmonary, cancerous or even mental illnesses are related to the quality of the air, water and food that surrounds us and we eat, as well as the temperature, in a country where people die from heat and cold. This reality also explains the energy poverty that affects a fifth of the population, limiting thermal air conditioning in homes and contributing to mortality associated with temperature extremes.
Heat-related illnesses increased by more than 50% among elderly peoples. In the summer of 2024, two severe heat waves added 20 days of dangerous heat, mainly affecting the elderly and children. Between 2011 and 2023, fires reached 33% of the territory, with smoke plumes affecting even larger areas, as occurred in September 2024 in the Center and North region.
Insufficient monitoring
“Monitoring the effect of environmental health problems in Portugal is still scarce and dispersed. It is crucial to have open and transparent data portals to design effective policies,” warns Luís Campos.
Air pollution affects one in nine people in the world, according to data from the World Health Organization. In Portugal, pollution caused by industrial activity (notably sulfur dioxide emissions) decreased, especially in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley areas. However, Nitrogen oxide levels have increased due to increased road traffic.
“The warning signs are clear. We need to act urgently to mitigate the effects of climate change on health and to adapt health systems to this new reality”, says Luís Campos. And he reiterates: “If we don’t take action now, we are jeopardizing the present and the future of future generations.”
The report (which included the collaboration of dozens of national academic and research institutions) also cites the expansion of disease-transmitting vector species, such as mosquitoes and ticks, which increase the risk of outbreaks of diseases such as dengue fever and hemorrhagic fever. Climate change and ecosystem destruction accelerate the possibility of these outbreaks. Situations of meteorological drought, such as the one that affected 82% of the territory at the end of summer 2024, or the degradation of habitats, worsened by urbanization and agricultural intensification, tend to make the situation worse, while chemical pollution threatens water resources and ecosystems coastal.
Emerging risks and opportunities
Plastics also pose a growing threat. According to the report, a study reveals that 58% of patients with atherosclerosis have nanoplastics in atheroma plaques, which “increases the risk of stroke or sudden death by 2.5 times”, indicates Luís Campos.
From another perspective, the increasing use of plastics in the healthcare sector, including in surgical centers, highlights the need for urgent recycling and regulation actions. “There is still no robust legislation that limits the use of plastics in medical devices or promotes sustainable management of hospital waste”criticizes Luís Campos. To face this crisis, the report calls for a cultural change in the health sector, integrating sustainability criteria into all decisions and promoting the circular economy.
The healthcare sector contributes 4.8% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Portugal, according to the report. Hospitals waste up to 50% of food and generate more than 200,000 kg/year of plastic in operating rooms. The carbon footprint of inhalers used for respiratory diseases is estimated at 30,236 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, and hospital waste management policies are still ineffective. Despite initiatives such as the program Second Chancethe recycling of sterile materials faces legal barriers. “If it were a country, the global health sector would be the fourth largest global emitter”, says Luís Campos, defending a national strategy to reduce the sector’s ecological footprint.
According to the report, Only 25% of medical schools teach the impact of climate change on healthand many professionals are unaware of the sector’s ecological footprint. The report praises active research at institutions such as the Dr. Ricardo Jorge (Insa) and the Institute of Environmental Health, but reinforces the need for greater support and financing. Although some universities address these issues, Luís Campos considers that “the approach is still limited” and defends plans integrated into health systems to deal with extreme weather phenomena and emerging pandemics.
Source: expresso.pt
