’Climate change is a health emergency,’ says Dr Simon Quilty.
'Climate change is a health emergency,' says Dr Simon Quilty. The Northern Territory (NT) could lose up to a third of its doctors as they look to escape the dangerous effects of climate change, according to new analysis from The Australian National University (ANU). Researchers found that 19 per cent of doctors say they are likely to leave the NT and 14.9 per cent were considering leaving as a result of climate warming, and 85 per cent believe that climate change is already impacting the health of patients in the area. Having lived through many hot summers in the NT, Alice Springs-based doctor, Simon Quilty, said climate change was already having deadly consequences to human health. "Climate change could decimate our rural health workforce," Dr Quilty, from ANU, said. "Climate change is the biggest threat to health; not only does heat itself kill, but it worsens existing healthcare inequity in places most vulnerable to extreme heat. - "The NT already has the greatest health inequity of any state of Australia, and climate change is rapidly compromising the few gains that have been made.
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