Washington, DC…Obama Administration Announces 48 Additional Public Health, Medical, and Nursing Schools from 15 Countries Commit to Train Their Students to Address the Health Impacts of Climate Change, Increasing the Total Number of Schools Committing to 118 Around the World. Climate change is a global challenge that demands a global response, and President Obama is committed to leading the fight. That is why, today, in Paris, the White House will announce that more than 45 additional medical, public health, and nursing schools around the world have signed onto the Health Educators Climate Commitment to ensure their students, the next generation of health professionals, are prepared, through education and training, to effectively address the health impacts of climate change, and to ensure that the world has a cadre of climate change and health experts. With today’s announcement we are expanding what was previously a U.S. initiative, launched at the White House in April 2015, to a global effort. The 48 new partners joining today increases the total number of schools signing on to 118 and expands participation to 14 additional countries:

Australia
Canada
China
Grenada
Ecuador
Finland
France
India
Malaysia
Mexico
Singapore
South Africa
Switzerland
United Kingdom

In addition to helping to recruit peer institutions, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health will announce the creation of a Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education to carry forward the Health Educators Climate Commitment to action. In addition to continuing to expand the reach of the commitment, the Consortium will be a forum through which Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing around the world share best scientific and educational practices, and curricula; develop core sets of knowledge for graduates; and foster the development of global academic partnerships to support training of health professionals and climate and health specialists throughout the world, particularly in under-resourced countries.

Climate change is no longer a problem for future generations – we are already feeling its effects in every corner of our nation and across the globe, which threatens our economic and national security and our health. No country is immune, and therefore all countries must act together, and that is what the Paris climate negotiations are all about. Today’s commitments reinforce not only how vast the impacts of climate change are, but also the opportunity to join together and address this problem.

Globally, health professionals are recognizing the growing impact that the changing climate is having on people’s health, from extreme heat and life-threatening storms, to the length of allergy seasons and the intensity of smog episodes, to the availability of safe water and food, to the distribution and abundance of pathogens and their vectors. They are taking action to build resilience in the health sector, and in sectors that affect the determinants of health. And they are working to identify the large health co-benefits that accrue when communities transition to clean energy.

HEALTH EDUCATORS CLIMATE COMMITMENT

Deans of the following schools have signed onto the Global Health Educators Climate Commitment and pledged:

As leaders responsible for educating the health professionals of tomorrow, we are keenly aware of our obligation to ensure that they are fully prepared to address all health risks, including those resulting from the impacts of climate change. Our future health professionals must have the competencies needed to address the health needs of our communities and our patients, both now and into the foreseeable future. These competencies must be based on the best available science, and benefit from sharing best scientific and educational practices.

We commit to ensuring that we train the next generation of health professionals to effectively address the health impacts of climate change.

We commit to strengthening the knowledge base in the area of climate and health from a position of the best science and academic rigor.

New Schools Committing Today

Brock University, Department of Health Sciences, Canada
Brown University, School of Public Health
Cardiff University, School of Medicine, Wales
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Urban Health Program
Concordia University, Department of Public Health, Canada
Dalhousie University, Faculty of Health Professions, Canada
Dartmouth College, The Dartmouth Institute for Health and Clinical Practice
Ecole des Hautes Edutes en Sante Publique, France
Indian Institute of Public Health – Bhubaneshwar, India
La Trobe University, School of Psychology and Public Health, Australia
Lakehead University, Department of Health Sciences, Canada
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, Mexico
National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
Ohio State University, College of Public Health
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland State University, School of Public Health
Public Health Foundation, Indian Institute of Public Health, India
Queen’s University, Department of Public Health Sciences, Canada
Ryerson University, School of Occupational and Public Health, Canada
Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Canada
St. George’s University, Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Grenada
Temple University, College of Public Health
Tufts University, School of Medicine and Public Health
Uniformed Services University, Public Health Program
United Nations University, International School of Global Health, Malaysia
Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Escuela de Salud Publica, Ecuador
Universite de Montreal, School of Public Health, Canada
Universite de Recherche, Institut National de la Rechere Scientifique, Canada
University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
University of Alberta, School of Public Health, Canada
University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Canada
University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Public Health and Nutrition, Finland
University of Geneva, Institute of Global Health, Switzerland
University of Georgia, College of Public Health
University of Guelph, Master of Public Health, Canada
University of Hong Kong, School of Public Health, China
University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health
University of Kwazulu-Natal, School of Nursing and Public Health, South Africa
University of Minnesota, School of Public Health
University of Northern British Columbia, School of Health Sciences, Canada
University of Notre Dame, School of Medicine, Australia
University of Ottawa, School of Epidemiology, Public Health, and Preventive Medicine, Canada
University of Saskatchewan, School of Public Health, Canada
University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health
University of Victoria, School of Public Health and Social Policy, Canada
University of Waterloo, School of Public Health and Health Systems, Canada
Western University, Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health, Canada

Previous Schools Committing

Boston University School of Public Health
Colorado State University, School of Public Health
Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
Des Moines University, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Drexel University, School of Public Health
Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
Florida A&M University, Public Health Program
Florida International University, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work
George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health
Georgetown University, School of Medicine
Georgia Regents University, MPH Program
Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health
Georgia State University, School of Public Health
Harvard Medical School
Harvard, T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Howard University, College of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Indiana University, School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing
New York University, College of Nursing
New York University, College of Global Public Health
Pennsylvania State University, MPH Program
Rutgers University, School of Public Health
Saint Louis University, College for Public Health and Social Justice
Stony Brook University, Program in Public Health
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, School of Public Health
Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Public Health
Thomas Jefferson University, School of Population Health, MPH Program
Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
UCLA, Fielding School of Public Health
University of Alabama-Birmingham, School of Public Health
University of California-Berkeley, School of Public Health
University of California-Davis, School of Medicine
University of California-San Francisco, School of Medicine
University of California-San Francisco, School of Nursing
University of Colorado, School of Public Health
University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Public Health and Nutrition, Finland
University of Florida, College of Public Health and Health Professions
University of Iowa, College of Public Health
University of Louisville, School of Public Health and Information Sciences
University of Maryland, School of Nursing
University of Maryland, School of Public Health
University of Memphis, School of Public Health
University of Miami, Department of Public Health Sciences
University of Michigan, School of Nursing
University of Michigan School of Public Health
University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Nursing
University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health
University of Northern Colorado, School of Public Health
University of Oklahoma, Health Sciences Center, College of Public Health
University of Pennsylvania, Master of Public Health Program
University of Pennsylvania, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health
University of Washington, School of Nursing
University of Washington, School of Public Health
University of Wisconsin, School of Medicine and Public Health
Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine
Walden University, Master of Public Health Program
Walden University, School of Nursing
Washington State University, College of Medicine
Washington State University, College of Nursing
West Virginia University, School of Public Health
Yale University, School of Public Health
Yale University, School of Nursing