A Public Health issue on“Climate Change”.

Solution

One public health issue related to climate change that is currently affecting the U.S. health care delivery system is the increase in heat-related illness and death. As temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, more people are at risk of experiencing heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and other heat-related health issues. This issue disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including the elderly, young children, and those with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes.

Heat-related illness is a significant problem at the local, state, and national levels. In 2018, an estimated 7,015 people died from heat-related causes in the U.S., making it the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the country (CDC, 2019). The Southeast and Southwest regions of the U.S. are particularly at risk, with higher temperatures and higher rates of heat-related death compared to other regions (CDC, 2019).

The current policy in place to address this issue is the National Weather Service’s Heat Safety campaign, which provides information and resources to help individuals stay safe in hot weather. However, this policy does not adequately address the root cause of the problem, which is the increasing temperatures caused by climate change.

To address this issue and prevent further heat-related illness and death, there needs to be a shift in policy to focus on mitigating and adapting to climate change. This could include measures such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing access to air conditioning and other cooling resources, and improving public infrastructure to make it more resilient to extreme heat events.

Stakeholders who should be involved in this policy change include government officials at the local, state, and national levels, as well as health care administrators and community organizations. Funding considerations will likely be a major factor in implementing these policy changes, as they may require significant investments in infrastructure and other resources.