A global perspective on the interface between climate change and population aging - 20th Annual John K. Friesen Conference - Growing Old in a Changing Climate: Exploring the Interface Between Population Aging and Global Warming (2011)

This video clip is the first Keynote address to the 20th Annual John K. Friesen Conference, "Growing Old in a Changing Climate: Exploring the Interface Between Population Aging and Global Warming," MAY 25-26, 2011, Vancouver, BC. Presented by Dr. Carlos Corvalán, Senior Advisor in Risk Assessment and Global Environmental Change, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/WHO, Washington, DC, USA. Current vulnerabilities in the population affect the capacity to respond to the impact of climate change. Identifying population groups that cannot cope with the effects of climate variability and extremes is essential for designing and implementing effective strategies for climate change and health. Population ageing is a sign of public health success, and current trends indicate the process will continue in many developing countries, but so will climate change. The vulnerability of older people can be exacerbated by structural stress factors which exist in many communities, such as poverty, food insecurity, social conflict, and disease. This challenge calls for a well coordinated health sector response which includes strengthening core public health interventions to encompass greater attention to environmental and social determinants of health. We also gratefully acknowledge a grant from the SFU Library's Scholarly Digitization Fund for videography and post-production editing. See webpage for more information on the 20th Annual John K. Friesen Conference: http://www.sfu.ca/grc/friesen/friesen2011/