Short Communication
Man has no perception of risk and is destroying his own habitat!
The human race is in danger of disappearing! It is well known that
in recent years due to the action of man there have been notable
changes in climatic conditions that have impacted on human health.
Extreme air temperatures contribute to deaths from cardiovascular
and respiratory diseases, especially among the elderly [1-3]. Climate
changes are likely to prolong the transmission stations of important
vector-borne diseases and alter their geographical distribution, for
example diseases such as schistosomiasis, malaria and dengue fever
can increase and expand the epidemic map [1]. Between 2030 and
2050, climate change is expected to cause an additional 250,000
deaths each year due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and caloric
stress [4]. Meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement could save
around one million lives annually by 2050, only considering the
goal of reducing air pollution [2,4].Since 1959, it has been the will
of the Cuban government to improve the health of the population
based on a strategy of the Ministry of Public Health in Cuba whose
purpose would be to optimize and increase the efficiency and
preventive-care quality in health services, to ensure sustainability
of the system despite economic constraints [5].
The formulation of climate change adaptation measures
must include all sectors of society. In Cuba the state has created
mechanisms to prepare the population, adopting measures that
involve the country’s educational centres. An example of this is the
life task, which is a Cuban State Plan for confronting climate change.
The plan contains 5 actions and 11 tasks aimed at counteracting
the effects of climate change in vulnerable areas. Task 10 contains
prioritizing measures and actions to raise the perception of risk
and increase the level of knowledge and the degree of participation
of the entire population in confronting climate change and a
culture that encourages water savings [6]. Medical schools are
no stranger to this Plan. It is the responsibility of the medical
teacher to train future doctors in these concepts by turning them
into health promoters with knowledge and skills to educate the
population and contribute to the reduction of the impact of climate
change on health. Thus, guaranteeing the guidelines for sustainable
development.
In the lecture given by Dr. Guillermo Mena Ridel, professor of
the National School of Health, during the II Symposium on Climate
Change and Health that was part of the scientific program of the
X Cuban Congress of Meteorology, whose work sessions ended on Friday 6 of December 2019 at the Tryp Habana Libre Hotel, in the
Cuban capital, one of the edges of the State Plan for confronting
Climate Change (Task Life) was highlighted, which is based on
raising the perception of risk and increasing knowledge and the
participation of the population in the adaptation to climate change,
fostering a culture for saving water and energy resources [7].
The doctor who needs today’s society must not only diagnose
and treat diseases but must also prevent them. But to properly
train these future doctors, it is necessary to have a competent
Cloister, who has knowledge of the profession, but also pedagogical
preparation, which provides the necessary tools so that he can
transmit knowledge while forming skills and values necessary for
the output profile of the medical staff you are training. Assuming that
the doctor, because of his quality as such, is qualified to teach, and
therefore, that his students learn, is part of the past. The challenge is
to go further; It is imperative to have the implementation of properly
structured programs, based on the need’s assessment within each
school and with a study of its impact [8]. To be a professor of a
medical school, it is not enough to be a good health professional,
but you must achieve the skills for teacher professionalization.
Hence, it is appropriate to reflect on how the medicine professor
is and should be the role of other doctors and what strategies the
responsible and adequately pedagogical exercise of their work in
the classroom and in the practice, scenarios present [9].
Regarding climate change and its consequences, the teacher’s
work is focused on preparing future doctors in the adaptation and
positive transformation of the environment, as well as providing
them with the necessary tools to educate the population in taking
action under mitigate the negative effects that climate change
generates on health. Communicable diseases such as dengue,
malaria, schistosomiasis, which currently threaten the world, can
be preventable if appropriate health measures are used by health
authorities in joint work with the entire population. To ensure
sustainable development, everyone’s joint work is needed, but with
a common objective and intentionality.
References
- (2018) OMS. Cambio climático y salud. Word Health Organization.
- (2018) ONU. Luchar contra el cambioclimático beneficia la salud y el bolsillo.
- (2018) CNN enEspañ El cambioclimticotienemásefectos para tusalud de los que piensas.
- (2018) OPS/OMS. Adviertensobre las consecuencias del cambioclimáticoen la salud, Buenos Aires.
- (2017) Dickinson Meneses FO, Retos del cambioclimático para la saludPúblicaen Cuba. rev CubanaHigEpidemiol55(2):1-3.
- (2017) CITMA. Tarea Vida,Ecured: Enciclopediacubana.
- Peláez O (2019) Proteger la saludhumana del cambioclimá
- Osornio Castillo L, Sánchez Reyes C, Ríos Saldaña MR,Méndez Cruz AR, Moreno Fernández AA, et al. (2015) Autoevaluación de los profesores de clínica integral de medicinasobresudesempeñ RevInvestenEducMéd4(16): 183-189.
- Jara Gutierrez NP, Díaz López MM, Zapata Castañeda PN (2015)Desafíoseducativos para el profesor de medicina: evaluación de sudesempeñ IATREIA 201528(3): 292-299.