Climate change is occurring rapidly, and this crisis should now be recognized as a “global emergency”. It is one of the major global health threats brought about by global warming, resulting from human activity due in large part to increasing levels of greenhouse gases. The ongoing climate crisis poses significant risks to women, pregnant mothers, unborn fetuses and offspring, who were exposed in-utero to climate stressors, especially those in marginalized communities where effects are magnified. A focus on education, research, and advocacy in responding to changing health consequences and global awareness are key to educating our professional healthcare providers, patients, the lay public, key personnel in the government and other leaders, and by making the changes necessary to address this crisis. Building on the pillars that FIGO has identified (advocacy, research interpretation, capacity building, and education), and following the footsteps of the FIGO Committee on “Climate Change and Toxic Environmental Exposures”, the baby steps yet focussed efforts taken by AOFOG through its recently formed “Climate Change & Pollution Working Group” will be highlighted in this review article. After all, investing in the health of women is investing in the health of current and future generations, and we, as healthcare providers along with health professional organizations should be in the forefront of environmental health advocacy to save the present generation and future generations through engagement as public opinion leaders.
Keywords : Climate change · Environment · Advocacy · Education · Women’s health · AOFOG
Climate Change is a reality and occurring at a rapid pace. A recent assessment by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that climate change is happening faster than expected and that the window to act is quickly closing [1].
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the global community to face its universal vulnerabilities to the forces of nature. The experience of this dreadful pandemic has contributed to an outpouring of opinion that the next global disaster is not rooted in nature, but rather is the result of human activity changing the climate of the earth, a conclusion supported by abundant and credible scientific data [2]. Climate change now appears to be the ‘next pandemic’ indeed, with increasing global temperatures and frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, changes in precipitation patterns and rising sea levels and huge impacts on human disease and mental health. These events are predicted to have devastating effects on global food and water supplies and quality, economic sustainability, forced population migrations and civil conflict and thus physical and mental health-related illnesses [3]. More importantly, climate change poses the most significant threat to women’s health and is expected to disproportionately affect women, unborn children and children, making them vulnerable to numerous adverse health effects. Its sequelae may lead to a worldwide public health disaster whose impact will be widespread.
We are aware that heat and air pollution exposure can result in congenital health issues. From physiological problems to anatomical defects, alterations in the environment such as ambient temperature and particulate matter play a significant role in this process [4, 5]. Similarly, air pollution exposure has been linked to cardiac complications, alterations in the epigenetics and other pregnancy problems [6]. As women’s healthcare providers in the Asia & Oceania region, it is our responsibility to protect the health of our patients and assist them through political advocacy, providing family planning services, focusing on nutrition with special emphasis on lifestyle counselling. If we strive to adopt definitive strategies to both empower our patients and educate ourselves, we will have the opportunity to mitigate the potentially devastating effects of climate change on women. In addition, the International Federation of Gynecology & Obstetrics (FIGO) joins a broad coalition of international researchers and the medical community in stating that the current climate crisis presents an imminent health risk to pregnant women, developing foetuses and reproductive health, and recognizing that we need societywide solutions, government policies and global cooperation to address and reduce contributors, including fossil fuel production, to climate change [7].
Following the footsteps of FIGO and its vibrant Committee on Climate Change and Toxic Environmental Exposures (C2TE2) [8], the Asia & Oceania Federation of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (AOFOG) during the Council Meeting during the AOFOG 2022 Congress in Bali, Indonesia, established the Climate Change & Pollution Working Group (CCPWG) in May 2022 which was ratified in the Executive Board Meeting in July 2022.
The main objectives and focus of the CCPWG of AOFOG are to promote awareness and improve knowledge in the field of ‘Climate Change, Pollution and Environmental Toxins’ in the AOFOG region by means of conducting webinars, lectures, workshops, publications or any other activities and to formulate workable strategies to address the problems.
The CCPWG for 2022–2024 comprises of the following: Advisor: Dr Ravi Chandran (Malaysia). Chair: Professor Krishnendu Gupta (India). Members: Professor Ditas Cristina D Decena (Philippines) [7], Professor Seiichi Morokuma (Japan) [9, 10].
The activities of the CCPWG from inception till date have been both physical and on-line meetings, with the common theme “Climate Change, Environmental Toxins and Reproductive Health”. The first physical meeting after the COVID pandemic was the “FOGSI—AOFOG Session” during the 65th All India Congress of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (AICOG) 2023 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, in January 2023. This was followed up with the “AOFOG Session” during the 75th Annual Congress of The Japan Society of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (JSOG) in Tokyo, Japan, in May 2023. Subsequently, yet another “AOFOG Session” on the same theme was conducted during the 109th Annual Congress of Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (KSOG) & 28th Seoul International Symposium in Seoul, South Korea, in November 2023. A similar session on Climate Change will be held at the 66th AICOG 2024 in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, in January 2024, followed by “AOFOG–FIGO Session” during the 32nd International Conference of the Obstetrical & Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh (OGSB) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in February 2024. A joint WebCME of the FIGO C2ET2 Committee and AOFOG CCPWG, with stalwarts focussed in the field of climate change, is planned in the first quarter of 2024, with a similar themed “AOFOG Session” planned during the 63rd Annual Congress of Taiwan Association of Obstetrics & Gynecology (TAOG) in Taipei City, Taiwan (ROC), in March 2024. A dedicated “FIGO Session” on the “Role of Obstetrician- Gynaecologist in Environmental Protection”, along with a focussed symposium on the “Hazards of Environmental Toxins” have also been confirmed during the AOFOG 2024 Congress in Busan, South Korea, in May 2024.
It is noteworthy to place on record the tremendous work being done in the area of climate change by many National Societies within AOFOG, with a special mention of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society (POGS) to educate, empower and engage their members to bring about awareness about the effects of climate change and environmental toxins, both among themselves and in the community at large. POGS has come full circle from learning, research and capacity building to advocacy. It is with this experience that CCPWG will partner with POGS in the future to prepare “learning modules” for the members of AOFOG through on-line and physical meetings. The CCPWG will continue its efforts to involve more National Societies in the AOFOG region to focus on the ill effects of climate change and ensure advocacy to its members.
As citizens of the world, we can do our bit for “mother earth” by following a few simple measures:
Declarations
Conflict of interest The author has no conflict of interest
