Climate change is the biggest challenge for human health in our time, yet this is a topic rarely discussed in the field of surgery, anesthesiology or obstetrics. Currently, approximately five billion people across the globe do not have access to safe and timely surgical and perioperative care.  As a result of climate change, the quantity and severity of conditions that require surgical, obstetric, and anesthesia (SOA) care will increase substantially, exacerbating existing access issues.  However, SOA care is also resource-intensive and contributes significantly to the greenhouse-gas emissions that drive climate change.  In other words, the carbon footprint associated with the delivery of surgical care potentially harms the very patients we seek to help. 

The time is now for the SOA community to support the development of global surgery and anesthesia infrastructure that is both environmentally sustainable and adapted to the future challenges of climate change.  The Climate in Obstetrics, Anesthesia and Surgery Team (COAST) is a research collaboration between the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard Medical School and the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  We focus on developing research and policy recommendations to support environmentally sustainable and climate-ready surgical care delivery across the globe. 

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The organization consists of 2 pillars: research and education/advocacy. 

Are you interested in getting involved?

Please send an email to coast.harvard@gmail.com