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The climate crisis is turning into health crises, Romania's Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Thursday in a World Health Day message, adding that all decisions have direct consequences on the life of the people and the planet.
"Only together, government and the people united, will we be able to protect our planet and our health. The climate crisis is also turning into health crises. Our decisions, whether political, social or commercial, have a direct impact on our lives and our planet," said Rafila.
Since 1950, the World Health Day has been celebrated on April 7. This year, the main theme is dedicated to the health of the planet, Agerpres.ro informs.
The Romanian Ministry of Health, under a partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO), is campaigning to increase the level of information on urgent actions required to maintain the health of the planet and emphasises that air pollution has an impact on both the planet and human health.
According to WHO, burning fossil fuels causes air pollution, which kills 13 people every minute due to lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. There is a need to rethink programmes on climate change, healthy eating, tobacco use, polluted water and inadequate sanitation, the ministry said.
According to statistics, about 1.8 billion people use health-care facilities that lack basic water services, and 800 million use facilities with no toilets.
"Unsafely managed health-care waste poses many risks to health workers and the nearby community, including risk of needlestick injuries, transmission of infectious diseases (such as hepatitis B and C), and inhalation of carcinogenic dioxins and furans from burning plastic health-care waste. Antibiotics and other antimicrobials given to humans, animals and plants are entering the environment and our drinking water as waste and sewage, spreading drug-resistant organisms and antibiotic resistance. This is causing a rise in the emergence of so-called superbugs that are resistant to several types of antimicrobial drugs," according to the Ministry of Health.
