Policy brief (March 2023) written by Dorothea Baltruks, Maren Sowa, Maike Voss: The impact of the climate crisis on our well-being and health becomes more apparent with every heatwave, extreme weather event and drought. But other environmental damages caused by human activities also have a direct and indirect impact on our health. In particular, the dramatic loss of biodiversity and the pollution of water, air and soil have long surpassed safe levels.1 Health protection does not therefore only belong in health policy, just as environmental protection must reach far beyond environmental policy. Read more …Strengthening sustainability in the pharmaceutical sector

Think piece (Dec. 2022) written by Remco van de Pas: The German, and most European health systems are part of an economic system that lacks intrinsic sustainability outcomes, with respect to society, health or ecology. The German health care sector is responsible for 5.2% of the national greenhouse gas emissions.1 51 out of 1,000 patients with diabetes are hospitalised, and this is one of the highest European admission rates for a condition that can be avoided by proper preventive measures in ambulatory care. Read more …The Need for Transformation to a Post-Growth Health and Economic System

Policy brief (Nov. 2022) written by Dorothea Baltruks, Sophie Gepp, Remco van de Pas, Maike Voss, Katharina Wabnitz: To address the urgent planetary crises and to ensure the planet’s habitability for future generations, planetary health needs to be anchored as a vision in all policies at national and international levels. Experiences and lessons learned from other policy fields and other countries can be considered in strengthening prevention of and preparedness for planetary crises and their health risks. To do so, we need to answer some urgent questions: 1) how can regulatory frameworks, structures, institutions, and incentives be adapted to make health within planetary boundaries the core goal of a comprehensive prevention policy and a public welfare-oriented care economy? 2) what role do conflicting goals and interests play in this context? 3) how can health equity and environmental justice be integrated into (health) policy decisions? 4) what forms of science communication, translation and generation are needed to accelerate the transformation towards health within planetary boundaries effectively? Read more …Health within planetary boundaries