Health Care Without Harm President Gary Cohen to Speak on “24 Hours of Reality” to Outline Health Sector’s Role in Reducing Health Threats from Carbon Pollution
Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 21, 2013 -- Health Care Without Harm President Gary Cohen will participate in “24 House of Reality,” on October 22 and 23rd. This is the second year that Cohen has presented in this annual 24-hour online event, created by former vice-president Al Gore. This year’s event, “The Price of Power,” focuses on the consequences of increased fossil fuel use and carbon emissions, and features a different topic for each of the world’s continents. Cohen will speak during the “Australia Hour,” which will focus on human health.
“The health impacts of carbon pollution are already being felt the world over,” said Cohen. “Increased asthma, heat-related deaths, the spread of infectious diseases like dengue and malaria, and increased water-borne diseases are all increasing due to climate change, yet they are not counted in the costs of fossil fuels. The health care sector has a mission-related imperative to reduce its own carbon footprint and lead the rest of society toward a renewable energy and low carbon future.”
Cohen is scheduled to speak at 7 pm Eastern on October 22, and at 1am, 7 am, and 1pm on October 23.
Cohen is an advocate and social entrepreneur who has helped create a number of organizations and initiatives focused on health and the environment. Earlier this year, he was named a Champion of Change, Public Health and Climate, by the White House for his work on the health threats associated with climate change and his work with the health care sector to recognize these effects and to prevent and mitigate them.
In addition to co-founding Health Care Without Harm, Cohen is a co-founder of Practice Greenhealth. Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth are co-organizers of CleanMed, the annual conference for sustainable health care. The two organizations are also co-founders, along with 13 hospital systems and the Center for Health Design, of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, which was developed to speed the attainment of sustainability in the health care sector, and provides free guidance for hospitals seeking to develop sustainable operations.
Heath Care without Harm (HCWH) is an international coalition of more than 500 organizations in 53 countries, working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. To learn more about HCWH, visit http://www.noharm.org.
Eileen Secrest, Health Care Without Harm, http://www.noharm.org, 540-376-4495, [email protected]
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