13 million deaths annually are due to preventable environmental causes

World Health Day takes place every April 7, a date that coincides with the day the World Health Organization (WHO) was founded, an organization that aims to achieve good physical, mental and social health for the entire population of the world. planet. This year, the chosen motto has been Our Planet, Our Health (#HealthierTomorrow), and the fact is that the WHO has warned that every year 13 million people die in the world due to environmental causes that could be avoided.

In addition to this great problem of climate crisis, which the WHO considers the greatest threat to health facing humanity, it has also indicated an increase in diseases such as cancer, heart disease or asthma, without forgetting the concern about the COVID-19 pandemic in which we are still immersed.

Another of the worrying data released by the organization for the world day is that 90% of the people on the planet breathe unhealthy air, which could be a consequence of the burning of fossil fuels. It is also increasing global warming, causing more mosquitoes to breed, spreading more disease, farther and faster than ever before.

Nor can we ignore the large number of extreme weather events that have been occurring in recent years, which, together with water scarcity and soil degradation, are forcing many people to have to move from their usual areas of residence, which affects directly to your health.

Tips to improve global health

“Pollution and plastics reach the bottom of our deepest oceans, the highest mountains, and have found their way into our food chain. Highly transformed and unhealthy food and beverage manufacturing systems are driving a wave of obesity, increasing cancer and heart disease, while generating a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

90% of the people on the planet breathe unhealthy air, which could be a consequence of the burning of fossil fuels

Through the Our Planet, Our Health campaign, the WHO intends to make a wake-up call to governments and citizens so that they begin to change and take measures to protect the planet and its health and to give priority to well-being societies. Some of the ideas collected in the campaign to reverse the situation are:

• Keep fossil fuels in the ground, stopping new prospecting and applying clean energy production and use policies.
• Create policies to reduce food waste.
• Put higher taxes on tobacco, which pollutes the planet and our lungs.
• Establish waste and plastic reduction policies.
• Opt for telecommuting whenever possible.
• Promote energy efficient buildings.
• Go to work on foot or by bicycle at least one day a week and the rest choose public transport.
• Put the heating at more than 21.5ºC and turn off the lights in rooms where you are not.
• Buy less products packed in plastic, replace this material with another, for example, using recyclable bags.
• Buy fresh food from local producers and avoid ultra-processed foods and drinks.

The Spanish Ministry of Health has also spoken on the occasion of World Health Day. Carolina Darias, Minister of Health, has stated that “the Government of Spain is determined to continue advancing in the application of this comprehensive approach, following the path marked by actions such as the Strategic Plan for Health and the Environment, the National Plan Against Resistance to Antibiotics (PRAN), the Strategy for Health Promotion and Prevention in the National Health System or the promotion of the Spanish Network of Healthy Cities”.

As he adds, health is our most precious asset and a basic and universal right. Therefore, “Caring for people’s health is our reason for being. For this reason, our actions must be directed towards disease prevention, health promotion and care for the environment”, concludes Darias.