IPC in the Era of Planetary Health: Lessons from Around the World

Date: 13 Oct 2026 | Time: 1000 - 1020 | Venue: The NAK Auditorium, Academia (SGH Campus)  

Track: Session 1.1 Environmental Sustainability and Valued Care

Speaker:

Overview:

Today, climate change and other ecological threats begin to affect the health of populations worldwide. Meanwhile, healthcare systems also create pollution and emit greenhouse gases, which exacerbate the planetary crisis in turn. All these environmental problems further drive infectious disease spread; therefore, future infection prevention and control (IPC) measures must consider these interconnections.

To tackle these existential and interrelated challenges, a new broader paradigm in medicine has emerged—planetary health, which is an integrated positive vision for the advancement of health of both people and the planet. In recent years, planetary health has grown into an exciting transdisciplinary space for scientific inquiry, cross-sector advocacy, and futures-oriented policy action with strong commitment to systems thinking and intergenerational equity.

This presentation will introduce to the IPC community the novel concept of planetary health; provide a quick survey of the planetary health challenges in relation to IPC; and showcase emerging opportunities and solutions from various parts of the world that integrate planetary health values and IPC principles.