News from the Secretary, May, 2007
The only positive outcome of the terrible storm over coastal New South Wales is perhaps that it reminds us that we must be better prepared for such eventualities as climate change progresses. Coastal areas are particularly vulnerable. In the article on www.dea.org.au “However one interprets the science, it’s bad news” we reviewed recent evidence on sea-level rise which is relevant to storms and surges around our coast that will cause more damage, death and injury as climate change progresses. We reported that Jim Hansen of NASA, a most respected climate change scientist, reviewed satellite data on the disintegration of ice sheets in Antarctica that suggested the possibility of a 5 meter sea level rise this century whereas the most recent IPCC report had suggested only 0.5 meters at most.
Rising sea-level will bring a need to relocate people within Australia and to accept environmental refugees from our region. A further article “Climate change and environmental refugees by Bryan Furnass posted on www.dea.org.au in April pointed out that a Policy was needed to address the issue. DEA intends to produce a policy and we strongly encourage you to contribute your comments and ideas. A few days ago federal Greens foreshadowed a motion on this topic in the Senate
DEA finances and the Appeal
Every member should have seen our appeal for funds and we are grateful to those who have responded so generously. Since I last wrote about our financial position we have many new members and so I will summarise our expenditures. Our income is solely from membership subscriptions and donations from members. It is our policy to remain fiercely independent and not to take donations from organisations which might be seen to compromise this. Our expenditure is confined to the following; teleconferences, expenditures in relation to the web site and secretarial work, posters and other educational material, and secretarial work which we pay for on an ad hoc basis. As an example, preparation and mail out of a briefing to all members of federal parliament may cost up to a thousand dollars. The members of the Management Committee do not take any expenses for travel etc.
Our need is to be able to employ dedicated and experienced assistance. We have been doing this on a needs basis but our contribution will be enhanced by more permanent assistance and we hope the appeal will enable us to do this. Our financial position will be stabilised as our membership increases. Members often ask us what they can do to help. The unequivocal answer is please enrol one other member! It is more difficult than you might think because much of our work is behind the scenes and does not bring recognition from the profession. For those of you running an educational meeting, please mention DEA and have flyers available—please email me if can use any
New web site and blog
The new site is successful by all the measurements we can make. From the information below you will see that the number of hits has increase 6 fold since the site was introduced. And we have very positive comments from members.
However we need you to contribute your articles—yes the ones you have published elsewhere – just get copyright permission and send them to me. What sort of material—look at the article on water catchments in Tasmania from Alison Bleaney and look at the innovative Bike doctor site that warrants many more contributions from members. ”We need increased interaction within DEA” has been a frequent comment from members. Your committee is responding to this and now the ball is in your court to contribute. Please register for the blog click here: http://dea.org.au/user/register Enter your preferred username and email address plus the registration code listed in the May news letter sent to you personally. The secretary would prefer your surname as the username, but the choice is yours!
Poster project
Those of you who were pleased by the success of the poster project must be wondering when the next image will be unveiled. Our poster on climate change and health was distributed under a once –off arrangement with the AMA. Negotiations are now underway with the RACGP for future distributions and I hope to give you more information in the next newsletter
Invitation for DEA to speak at an International meeting in Venice
On May 19 2007 Colin Butler represented DEA to give a key note presentation for a conference called “Climate change in the 21st Century: Future Prospects for the Health of our Planet and Mankind”, hosted by the International Academy of Environmental Sciences (http://201.216.215.170/isde.org/images/programma_sala_19_05_07.pdf).
The International Society of Doctors or the Environment (ISDE) was a co-organiser of this meeting. ISDE president Dr Lilian Corra and DEA secretary Professor David Shearman were originally scheduled to speak about the consequences to health from climate change. Unfortunately technical problems thwarted Lilian; they almost thwarted me, but I was rescued, in part due to the help of DEA webmaster Glen Moss.
Most speakers discussed the physical changes expected from climate change, including the impact of sea level rise on Venice. My talk focussed on what I call the tertiary health effects of climate change. While the primary (eg more heat stress) and secondary (eg more malaria) effects are likely to be containable for privileged populations, provided public health services remain vigilant, even wealthy populations are vulnerable to the tertiary effects. I described these as likely to occur through a cascade of worsening governance triggered by failing states, stressed by sea level rise, increasingly unequal agricultural productivity, food insecurity, refugees, resentment and conflict. While this cascade would originate in poor countries its shocks could ripple globally, impairing our capacity to properly address collective issues, including of climate change. In this scenario public health services eventually suffer even in rich countries, leaving populations vulnerable not only to heat waves and vector borne diseases, but to a range of other adverse health effects.
I also pointed out that in the near future the adverse impacts of climate change on poor populations are likely to remain small in comparison to their existing problems, but in the long run climate change has the capacity to undermine and even reverse the recent trajectory towards greater development. It is thus in the long term interest of rich and poor countries to work together on this crucial issue. There was also discussion of the need for an international environmental court. The final two speakers were Nobel Laureates (in physics and peace). It was a fantastic opportunity to be part of this meeting
AGM and Scientific Meeting, 3-4 November 2007
John Stokes, DEA Treasurer, indicates that we will meet in conjunction with the WACRRM (WA Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine) ‘Fremantle Educational Weekend’ on Sat 3rd and Sun 4th November. WACRRM runs several regional activities for rural GPs and this is their annual major state-wide meeting which is jointly run with the educational committee of Fremantle Hospital. It is planned that DEA will invite speakers of national eminence for the Saturday morning session and may run a parallel session on Saturday afternoon.
The meeting will attract CME points and will be a tax deductible expense. The DEA AGM and dinner will be held on Friday evening, 2 November. In notifying DEA members now we suggest that these dates go into your diary and that you plan to come to Fremantle.