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Doctors protest medical regulator’s inaction on climate
Doctors and patients protest against the medical regulator’s inaction on climate outside the General Medical Council, London, April 18, 2024

DOCTORS linked to the Planetary Health Coalition demonstrated outside the General Medical Council (GMC) today against its failure to address the devastating impact that climate change has on public health.

In a theatrical protest, health workers queued at a “moral injury unit” to present complaints about their difficulties witnessing the effects of the climate emergency. 

Protesters placed a giant red whistle outside the regulatory bodies’ offices, urging the organisation to sound the alarm on the impact of environmental destruction, and to integrate these concerns into its ethical standards.

Participant Dr Hilary Neve said: “In the UK 29-43,000 people die unnecessarily every year because of air pollution. 

“In addition we are now seeing increasing heat waves, allergic asthma emergencies, and malnutrition linked to crop failure and the rising cost of food.

“This is not to mention the mental health consequences, especially for young people, as global systems collapse.”

Protesters also called for an end to GMC’s ties with the Royal Bank of Scotland, part of the Natwest Group, which continues to finance fossil fuel projects.

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