The effect of next-generation, dual-active-ingredient, long-lasting insecticidal net deployment on insecticide resistance in malaria vectors in Benin: results of a 3-year, three-arm, cluster-randomised, controlled trial
Insecticide resistance among malaria vector species now occurs in 84 malaria-endemic countries and territories worldwide. Novel vector-control interventions, including long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) that incorporate new active ingredients with distinct modes of action, are urgently needed to delay the evolution and spread of resistance and to alleviate reversals in malaria-control gains. We aimed to assess the longitudinal effect of two dual-active-ingredient LLINs on insecticide resistance during a cluster-randomised, controlled trial in Benin.
Effect of alternative dosing strategies of pembrolizumab and nivolumab on health-care emissions in the Netherlands: a carbon footprint analysis
Hospitals contribute substantially to greenhouse gas emissions and face a moral obligation to prioritise emission reduction. Drugs constitute an important component of the greenhouse gas emissions of hospitals. Alternative dosing strategies (ADS) have been implemented to improve the cost-effectiveness of pembrolizumab and nivolumab. However, the impact of these ADS on greenhouse gas emissions remains unknown. Therefore, we aimed to analyse the effect of ADS implementation on the carbon emissions of treatment with pembrolizumab and nivolumab.
Effects of fine particulate matter from wildfire and non-wildfire sources on emergency-department visits in people who were housed and unhoused in San Diego County (CA, USA) during 2012-20: a time-stratified case-crossover study
Being unhoused can increase vulnerability to adverse health effects due to air pollution. We aimed to quantify changes in emergency-department visits during and after exposure to wildfire-specific and non-wildfire particulate matter 2·5 μm or less in diameter (PM) in San Diego County (CA, USA) in people who were both unhoused and housed.
Responding to heat-related health risks: the urgency of an equipoise between emergency and equity
In the summer of 2024, there were higher temperatures than usual in several parts of India. Temperatures in Delhi, a huge city with millions of residents, broke several previous records. Low-income households have dwellings that do not offer much protection from the heat, and individuals struggle to access basic amenities, such as water. With accumulating evidence on consequent impacts for mortality and morbidity, governance structures are seeking to respond in a timely and efficient manner. There is a need to recognise that heat-related illnesses and deaths are not best addressed merely as an acute disaster but as public health and economic challenges that require planned responses. Responses that are sustainable and equitable combine long-term structural efforts at resilience building with emergency preparedness and prove to be most effective in averting the largely preventable deaths, morbidities, and economic shocks arising from heat-related health risks among exposed and vulnerable communities. Joint action on climate and health enhances achievement of multiple developmental goals with multistakeholder participation. Diverse sectors, including medical care, surveillance, risk communication, disaster preparedness, livelihoods and jobs, and adaptation and urban planning, are needed to raise public awareness and engagement, induce behavioural change, and focus resources for the much-needed structural changes in urban planning and health systems that can save lives and avert damages. To reduce heat-related health risks, vulnerability, inequity, and climate action in the Indian context must be urgently addressed.
Planet-friendly school meals: opportunities to improve children's health and leverage change in food systems
Public good or climate washing? A guideline for climate and health researchers considering funding from carbon-intensive industries
Should climate and health researchers accept funding from industries that profit from climate-damaging consumption? In this Personal View, we aim to ignite discussions on this key topic and to introduce a guideline to possibly help climate and health researchers grappling with this complex question. Drawing from existing tools focused on other public health issues and the conclusions of the 2023 Lancet Series on commercial determinants of health, we propose a guideline comprising six parts: meeting public health and climate goals; building credibility and trust; avoiding undue dependence on particular sources of funding; not inflating without good reason the public image of industry; embedding processes to ensure transparency and independence; and protecting the freedom to publish. We invite other climate and public health scientists to report their own experiences and provide feedback on this guideline.
Correction to Lancet Planet Health 2024; published Oct 17. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00229-8
Transforming food systems through agroecology: enhancing farmers' autonomy for a safe and just transition
Food systems contribute to multiple crises while failing to deliver healthy, nutritious food for all. A substantial amount of research suggests that the root cause of this issue lies in the complete integration of food systems within global capitalism and the consequent subordination of fairness and sustainability to profit accumulation. We draw on critical political economy to explore how the integration of food systems within global capitalism and their subordination to profit occur. Subsequently, we illustrate how this subordination erodes the autonomy of food producers, with strong environmental and social consequences for consumers and society at large. Lastly, we discuss how agroecology could transform food systems and enhance producers' autonomy, while mitigating environmental and social dysfunction. We stress how the transformative power of agroecology lies in its double nature: concrete (technical) and social (political). By acting in both dimensions, agroecology can help reorient food systems away from profit accumulation and towards better meeting community needs, in line with the tenets of food sovereignty.
Tribally led planetary health education in southeast Alaska
Limited reporting of Indigenous-led planetary health education programmes has constrained efforts to expand planetary health education, in Indigenous communities and beyond, despite urgent need. Although incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and cultures cannot be standardised, showcasing successful programmes could reveal good practices and aid replicability. In this Personal View, we highlight how shellfish toxin education programmes, designed and organised by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, reduce local environmental health risks and support youth in pathways towards careers in planetary health. We describe how programmes build awareness and understanding of the local environment, environmental and health risks, and context-appropriate adaptation strategies by centring Tlingit culture and using hands-on activities that integrate Tlingit culture with western science. Lesson plans and resources created by Sitka Tribe of Alaska staff for these programmes are available in the US National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences Partnerships for Environmental Public Health resources web database.
Removing lead from the global economy
Lead, an element toxic to countless biological processes, occurs naturally in the earth's lithosphere and is geologically sequestered from the biosphere at the earth's surface. When humans remove lead from the lithosphere and distribute it throughout the economy, its toxic effects impact throughout the web of life. Lead mining and manufacturing is a small industry that generates enormous harms. Lead impairs the growth, development, and reproduction of microbes, insects, plants, and animals. The annual human costs of lead exposure include 5·5 million premature adult deaths from cardiovascular disease and US$1·4 trillion in losses to the global economy from lead impairing children's cognitive development. Although the lead industry touts lead as the most recycled metal, most recycling occurs within countries that are incapable of enforcing environmental regulations. Millions of metric tonnes of lead are dispersed into the environment each year, disproportionately in low-income and middle-income countries. Substitutes for lead in the economy are available and we should act in the best interests of the planet and human health by eliminating lead from the global economy by 2035.
No silver bullets, no shortcuts: confronting the commercial determinants of the climate crisis
Bridging the gender, climate, and health gap: the road to COP29
Focusing specifically on the gender-climate-health nexus, this Personal View builds on existing feminist works and analyses to discuss why intersectional approaches to climate policy and inclusive representation in climate decision making are crucial for achieving just and equitable solutions to address the impacts of climate change on human health and societies. This Personal View highlights how women, girls, and gender-diverse people often face disproportionate climate-related health impacts, particularly those who experience compounding and overlapping vulnerabilities due to current and former systems of oppression. We summarise the insufficient meaningful inclusion of gender, health, and their intersection in international climate governance. Despite the tendency to conflate gender equality with number-based representation, climate governance under the UNFCCC (1995-2023) remains dominated by men, with several countries projected to take over a decade to achieve gender parity in their Party delegations. Advancing gender-responsiveness in climate policy and implementation and promoting equitable participation in climate governance will not only improve the inclusivity and effectiveness of national strategies, but will also build more resilient, equitable, and healthier societies.
A qualitative exploration of barriers, enablers, and implementation strategies to replace disposable medical devices with reusable alternatives
Hospitals use many single-use devices that produce more waste and greenhouse gas emissions than reusable devices; operating theatres alone are responsible for up to a third of hospital waste. We explored barriers and enablers to replacing disposable devices with reusable alternatives in operating theatres by use of interviews, the Theoretical Domains Framework, and theory-informed behaviour change techniques. 19 stakeholders were interviewed at a large tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and 53 barriers and 44 experience-based or intuition-based enablers were identified. 30 strategies were identified across six topics: external purchasing (two strategies); internal purchasing (seven strategies); incentivisation and standardised environmental decision making (three strategies); successful practical introduction of reusable devices (five strategies); identification of goals and facilitation of leadership (two strategies); and a community of practice and knowledge building (11 strategies). We present these 30 implementation strategies, from the individual to the policy level, which consist of evidence-based behaviour change techniques aimed at addressing the identified barriers to replacing single-use devices with reusable alternatives.
Effects of a coal to clean heating policy on acute myocardial infarction in Beijing: a difference-in-differences analysis
In 2015, the Chinese Government launched the coal to clean heating policy (CHP), designed to improve air quality and health in China. The CHP banned household coal burning and provided subsidies for clean electric or gas-powered heating for millions of peri-urban and rural households. We aimed to investigate whether the CHP affected the incidence of acute myocardial infarction in Beijing townships.
Climate emotions, thoughts, and plans among US adolescents and young adults: a cross-sectional descriptive survey and analysis by political party identification and self-reported exposure to severe weather events
Climate change has adverse effects on youth mental health and wellbeing, but limited large-scale data exist globally or in the USA. Understanding the patterns and consequences of climate-related distress among US youth can inform necessary responses at the individual, community, and policy level.
Nations prepare to give climate statements at world's top court