Webinar Series: Field Epi Response to the Climate and Health Crisis
In partnership with IANPHI and Columbia University's Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, the Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET) is hosting a webinar series, Field Epi Response to the Climate and Health Crisis, focused on discussing climate-related health risks and their relating interventions.
Climate change has been identified by the World Health Organization as “the single biggest health threat facing humanity,” resulting in a myriad of adverse effects on human health and global health systems. As temperatures rise around the globe, the world is seeing an increase in climate-related events that result not only in infrastructure and environmental damage, but also outbreaks of communicable and noncommunicable diseases across immediate and long-term timescales. The realities of climate change call for more health professionals trained in detecting and responding to climate-related health threats, which spurred the creation of the TEPHINET webinar series.
The webinar topics range from heat exposures to wildfires, extreme weather events, and air pollution. The sessions feature presentations from climate health experts from National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) and Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs) trainees and alumni. Started in 2022, the series is expected to continue in 2023.
The recordings of past webinars are available below.
In addition to the webinars, IANPHI and two of our members, the UK Health Security Agency and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, joined in 2022 the TEPHINET Climate and Health Working Group, which aims to improve the awareness of FETPs, and FETP residents and graduates, to issues surrounding climate and health, available climate and health training and resources, and eventually integrate climate and health into the FETP curriculum and core competencies.
IANPHI launched its own Climate Change and Health Committee two years ago, which brings together over 20 member NPHIs to work on climate and health issues. In 2021, the committee drafted the IANPHI Climate Roadmap, which highlights and advocates for the key role of NPHIs in climate adaptation and mitigation.