European medical schools plan to increase the proportion of classes on mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever
input 2024.10.19 21:30
input 2024.10.19 21:30correction 2024.10.18 16:19
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As record-breaking heat continues around the world this year, a wind of change is blowing in medical school classes due to climate change. [사진=게티이미지뱅크]Not only in Korea but also around the world, this year’s record-breaking heat wave continues, and the number of related diseases is increasing significantly. Accordingly, changes have begun in the medical school curriculum. Climate change is starting to change medical school classes.
The British daily newspaper ‘The Guardian’ reported that the European Climate and Health Education Network (Enche) has been established, which aims to expand education on climate crisis-related diseases in European medical schools.
The network plans to integrate climate-related classes for more than 10,000 medical students at 25 medical schools in the UK, Belgium, and France, led by the University of Glasgow. Medical students at these universities will learn more about heatstroke, dengue fever, malaria and the role of global warming in health.
Accordingly, mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever and malaria are expected to take up an increasing proportion of medical school curricula across Europe. “Doctors of the future will see a range of symptoms and diseases that they don’t see now,” said Dr Camille Hooser, co-chair of the network, from the University of Glasgow. “They need to be able to recognize it and they need to know it.”
In fact, disease-spreading insects, such as mosquitoes, are expanding their habitats and being discovered in new areas due to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. Chronic diseases such as cancer, heart and lung disease, diabetes, and mental illness can all be affected by factors such as extreme weather or air pollution. “Climate change is not necessarily creating completely new diseases that we have never seen before, but it is worsening diseases that already exist,” said Dr. Hooser. “For people living in one world, symptoms and complications are more frequent and worse,” he said. He said, “The phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance, in which pathogens have evolved and existing drugs can no longer effectively treat them, is worsening due to climate change, and this must be reflected in education.”
Medical students will receive training in a ‘green regimen’ that encourages them to take active trips such as walking or cycling instead of driving, and to engage in activities such as growing local gardens and planting trees. “A lot of people don’t realize that the healthcare sector is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the aviation industry,” Dr. Hooser said. “When you fly somewhere, you feel a lot of guilt, but when you go to the hospital, you don’t feel guilty.”
You will also learn what impact changes in state management can have. For example, inhalers used to treat asthma emit greenhouse gases, so people with the condition may learn to reduce their inhaler prescriptions or switch to dry powder inhalers, which emit less greenhouse gases.
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