This year I was lucky enough to be chosen by Student PSR for a travel scholarship to attend the annual national conference in NYC at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The theme for this years event was “Prescription for a Healthy and Secure Planet”.
The conference featured medical, public health, environment and security experts. Keynote speakers, plenary sessions, and workshops, as well as a performance of Damaged Care-The Musical Comedy about Health Care in America and the film "Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives".
Spring break was hard to give up, but for three days I soaked up the words of many inspired speakers –people who give a damn and then DO something concrete about issues of Environmental Health Justice and Nuclear non-proliferation. I came back ready to reinvigorate the sPSR chapter at NCNM and hopeful about the direction that national politics are headed.
Some highlights from two of the presentations I attended. (I’ll try to post the rest soon)
Talk: Back from the Brink.
Speaker: Ira Shorr- national field director for PSR.
Considering the topic of nuclear disaster, prevention is the only cure.
PSR as an organization- We are about changing direction. Right now.
*Chinese saying “if you don’t change direction, you are likely to end up where you are headed”
There is a global health crisis coming at us as a result of global warming. We need to determine what the role of the physician is in determining the need to prevent by changing course.
Coal-is currently the biggest pollutant, but nuclear-is not the answer. The cost of nuclear power is too high.
Use your physician voice, advocate for global preventive medicine.
Speaker: Peggy Shepard “WeACT”
WeACT is New York City’s First environmental justice organization, it is community based in partnership with Columbia University. They take action on transportation, air pollution, land use, etc.
WeACT envisions a world where everyone has access to clean air and water. A framework of health status in relation to socio-economic status helps to determine priorities. Improvements in treatments are too late in the trajectory of health disparities. The community and build environment –affect health through; access to nutrition, transportation, health care as well as other factors such as; ready access to cigarettes, alcohol and fast foods. People are marginalized and there is a lack of participation by residents to democratic processes and any ‘green’ living situation.
Residents must be encouraged to participate. Clinicians can work more effectively by empowering residents with training and information.
WeACT has waged an18 year campaign ‘clean air, clean fuel, clean health.’ To sustain motivation for that time, they focused on seeing small victories and got the community totally empowered on the one issue of a stronger lead poison bill. Victories in that arena have carried over to the other issues.
A lack of scientific literacy has really been a problem this is where we have the opportunity to empower people. Engage the youth. Taught by researchers to give quizzes to understand where exposure is coming from. Collect the data through the youth. Engage technicians in the fields that are affected. What are people being exposed to? Answer these questions with partners from the community. High levels of involvement from the community in the collection of the data can be more effective in the ultimate goal of passing the legislation. When people get confused they feel that they can do nothing at all.
We must find ways to translate the research findings.
-Looking at pesticide exposure at home. They documented widespread exposure that had led to low birth weight and developmental delays in 1/3 of those surveyed. Legislation was subsequently passed.
-Diesel fuel has been documented as a carcinogen. Research was done in the community by giving people back-pack monitors. They found that school buses are the dirtiest vehicles on the road and that older buses are more dangerous. The City council passed a law that will retro-fit.
There needs to be a clear dialog between researchers and clinicians. When clinicians and researchers live in another area besides the one they work in -what kinds of things will they overlook? Taking clinicians on a toxic tour of the area that residents live in so that they have some understanding.
In allowing permits for polluting facilities, the health of the community should be a key indicator. Cap and trade is not the way to go, it is not going to build healthier communities. Trade sets up the situation where a dirty facility can continue to pollute a poor community.
We must educate ourselves, and our profession about what these things mean.
