Kidd new champion for green doctors

GREEN lobby group Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) has been set a busy agenda for 2009, courtesy of its new chair, Professor Michael Kidd.

Former RACGP president Professor Kidd told MO he planned to spend next year expanding and strengthening the DEA’s working relationships with governments, environmental and medical organisations, and the media.

Establishing links with similar international organisations would also be important, he said.

“We want to share educational resources we have developed, particularly with our colleagues in lower and middle income nations.”

He would also be working to grow and consolidate the DEA membership base.

Professor Kidd said he saw the DEA as a “champion” of protecting human health as part of the climate change agenda.

“The DEA is doing a great job of alerting doctors and the wider community about the health effects of environmental degradation, and providing advice about the way we can make a difference within our own lives, the way we operate our clinics and hospitals, and the way we provide care and advice to our patients.”

He encouraged all GPs to begin talking to patients about the parallels between leading a healthy lifestyle and helping the environment – for example walking or cycling instead of driving, and choosing healthy diets based on homegrown food.

“As GPs, we do care about our local environment, and we are advocates for ensuring that the environment our patients live in is healthy,” he said.