Jakarta – Climate change due to global warming can not only cause hydrometeorological disasters, but can also pose a serious threat to public health, according to health researchers Tuesday (14/6). Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing (FK-KMK) Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Ova Emilia said climate change could have direct or indirect impacts on public health.
She explained direct impacts such as extreme weather and so on. Meanwhile, indirect impacts, such as climate change, affect vectors or causes of disease (e.g. mosquitoes).
“Climate change will also affect disease vectors or causes, resulting in a longer life or maybe a change in behavior, causing disease problems that we may not have encountered before,” said Emilia in the webinar ‘Thoughts of Bulaksumur #11: Human Health and Planet Earth’.
Thus, she continued, it is not impossible that in the future there will be problems (new diseases) such as those faced in the last two years, namely Covid-19. For that, Emilia said, universities need to play a role in mitigating the threat of climate change to public health. Universities can play a big role in disseminating green behaviors or those who think about the sustainability of this planet.
“Universities are also expected to produce more research to mitigate climate change disasters. In addition, it helps to make the necessary public planning and policies,” she added.
Meanwhile, Professor of UGM FK-KMK, Laksono Trisnantoro, said that public health mitigation from the dangers of climate change should be carried out at every level, from individual, social, to structural levels.
He explained that mitigation at the individual level could be in the form of improving people’s behavior, such as encouraging them to have a healthy lifestyle. Then, at the social level, mitigation can be in the form of reducing poverty in the community. Because health is closely related to economic factors.
“In addition, mitigation is also needed at the structural level, where there should be regulations and policies needed,” Trisnantoro said. (Hartatik)
