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Enfermería: Cuidados Humanizados

Print version ISSN 1688-8375On-line version ISSN 2393-6606

Enfermería (Montevideo) vol.8 no.2 Montevideo Dec. 2019  Epub Dec 01, 2019

 

Editorial

Editorial: Call to action for care in the era of climate change.

Mirliana Marcela Ramírez, Member of the Editorial Board


Dear Readers:

First of all, I would like to thank the invitation to be part of the Nursing Editorial Board: Humanized Care, space for reflection and dissemination of knowledge in the care sciences in Latin America, it is a great honor to be part of this team , which has positioned itself as one of the best quality magazines in Latin America.

In December of the current year, the Conference of the Parties (COP25) will be held in Santiago, Chile, the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention, which establishes the basic obligations of the 196 Parties (States) plus the Union European to combat climate change. The climate change and global warming are issues strongly linked with the discipline of care, because from our metaparadigm the atmosphere makes you critical of Nursing, as a science of care is our responsibility to environmental care management.

Climate change and especially global warming poses significant risks to human and planet health, so it is necessary to act because its consequences can be devastating. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the planet was warming and that human activity was the most important cause of this warming. The Panel has warned about the increase in heat stress, drought, sea level rise, coastal and continental floods, storm surges, landslides, ocean acidification, reduction of marine biodiversity and extinction of plant and animal species 1.

In this context of climate change, the health sector represents an important source of environmental pollution and energy consumption. Hospital wastes include those created from hospitals, clinics, offices, laboratories, dialysis centers, hospitalization or special home care, among others 2.

Between 75% and 90% of the waste produced by health service providers it is comparable to household waste and usually called "not dangerous". Coming mainly from administrative functions, casino, general cleaning of facilities, packaging waste and waste generated during the maintenance of the hospital or health center. Among the remaining 10-25% of sanitary waste is considered "dangerous" and can present a variety of environmental and health risks. The types of waste according to the World Health Organization are classified as infectious, pathological, sharps, pharmaceutical, cytotoxic, chemical and radioactive 3.

With respect to the carbon footprint of hospital care, the United Kingdom National Health Service generates emissions of more than 18 million tons of carbon monoxide, equivalent to 25% of total public sector emissions 4. In the Community of Madrid, the energy consumption of hospitals corresponds to 45% in air conditioning, 35% in lighting and 20% in hot water 5.

It is necessary that the health team take action to reduce, reuse and recycle in our hospitals and health centers, so to achieve sustainable development, which incorporated a small and values, clean technologies and protection laws that proportion and welfare to present and future generations without environmental, social or economic damage and that remain in time from an equilibrium dimension 6.

Dra. Mirliana Marcela Ramírez
Member of the Editorial Board Academic Department of Nursing, University of Chile .

Referencias bibliográficas

1.Table 9: Distribution of patients with more than 3 symptoms according to nutritional status [ Links ]

2.Méndez González J. Los desechos sanitarios: su impacto en el medio ambiente. Bioética mayo agosto 2012. Pp 4-8 [ Links ]

3.Chartier Y. Safe management of wastes from health-care activities. World Health Organization. 2014 [ Links ]

4.National Health Service (UK). Saving carbon, improving Health. NHS carbon reduction strategy. Cambridge: NHS; 2009 [ Links ]

5.Comunidad de Madrid. Consejería de Economía y Hacienda. Guía de ahorro y eficiencia energética. Madrid: La Comunidad de Madrid; 2010 [ Links ]

6.Rodríguez I Govea H. EL discurso del desarrollo sustentable en America Latina. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales (Internet). 2006; 12 (2): 37-63. Recuperado de:http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=17712202Links ]

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