Australian and New Zealand surgeons' attitudes to our role in climate change mitigation

Abstract

Climate change is a major threat to global health, with over 250 000 fatalities per year attributable to the climate crisis. 1 Despite the link between carbon emissions and poor health, the Australian healthcare system contributes to 7% of Australia's carbon footprint, 2 with surgery a large contributor. 3 Understanding surgeons' attitudes towards these emissions is essential to aid in their reduction. This study presents the most comprehensive description to date of Australian and New Zealand surgeons' practices and attitudes to climate change mitigation.An electronic, cross-sectional survey was developed by experts on healthcare climate change mitigation (Appendix 1). The project was approved by our organization's Human Research Ethics Committee

Towards sustainable surgical care systems: a broader framing

“…1 In this issue, Mousley et al reported a survey of Australian and New Zealand surgeons' attitudes to climate change mitigation. 2 The survey, distributed through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) newsletter, had a response rate of 0.04%. 72% of 253 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that climate change is an urgent public health issue.…”