Dr. Mimi Guarneri Connects Health of People to Health of Planet

As part of a series of summits on climate change hosted by the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABOIM, founding president of the Academy of Integrative Health Medicine (AIHM), shared her work in integrative health and medicine at a 2017 session entitled “Health of People, Health of Planet: Our Responsibility.” Dr. Guarneri has been working with colleagues to link the concept of integrative medicine with broader health factors, including the environment. She joined about 100 scientists, policy makers, theologians, elected officials, and world leaders to focus on solutions to the current trends in environmental degradation.

Dr. Guarneri shared her vision for transforming the way health and clinical services are delivered. She described a broad integrative model to healthcare as one that focuses on “creating health” to replace a conventional system of biomedicine which is heavily dominated by pharmaceutical treatments. Dr. Guarneri drew a link between the toxins that damage both the environment and human health, noting the increasing rates of chronic conditions.

The Vatican subsequently published a statement of twelve solutions identified at the summit, offering steps that governments and other stakeholders could take to address climate change. The statement called for collaboration between health and climate sciences to create an alliance for sustainability. Another proposed solution included promoting behavioral changes beneficial for human health and protective of the environment, such as increased consumption of plant-based diets. The statement also called on healthcare providers to expand their roles to include educating the public on risks of pollution and advocating for public health actions to mitigate climate change.