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Rockefeller Foundation president urges Hong Kong to tackle climate change to head off health crises
Judith Rodin advises governments to reorganise efforts and stop silo mentality
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The head of a world-leading philanthropic group urged Hong Kong to focus on ways to tackle climate change as a way to stave off health crises.
Her comment came as the city struggled to address its overstretched health care system in recent weeks. Debates over how to cope with hospitals overloaded by unexpected cold weather grew heated, with many contending more doctors and nurses were needed.
Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, a globally recognised private foundation whose mission is to promote the well-being of humanity, told the Post there was no single magic bullet in handling a health care crisis. She said enhanced manpower was not the best way to ease the public sector’s overstretched capacity.
Inside Hong Kong’s public hospital crisis: temporary beds, angry patients, nurses and doctors stretched to breaking point
Rodin, who visited the city last week for an Asia Society event, warned extreme weather would result in a wide variety of health crises. She urged the city, which saw 18 temperature-related records broken last year, to tackle the problem at its roots.
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As an example, Rodin cited dengue, a viral disease once thought to be confined to tropical locations. “Dengue is moving to cooler and cooler climates and is changing where it’s locating throughout Asia,” she said.
The World Health Organisation warned earlier that above-average rainfall caused by El Nino would create a more favourable environment for mosquitoes spreading diseases, including the recent outbreak of the Zika virus.
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