Transition Health Movement
Transition Health is part of a global Transition Movement that aims to address the two greatest challenges of our times: Peak Oil and Climate Change. It developed from the local Transition Health and Medicine Group of Transition Penwith and is working closely with the Transition Network to further its aims and objectives.
Transition Health supports the emergence of Transition Initiatives across the world with the ultimate aim to facilitate the design of a localised Energy Descent Action Plan for the medical and health system of the future.
At present Transition Health is conducting an awareness-raising on the impact of Peak Oil and Climate Change on health and medicine. This is being done through a series of talks, events, workshops and publications targeting local hospitals, doctors, CAM practitioners and all other members of the local health community.
Questions, issues and challenges include the following:
- What might a low carbon, low energy medical system look like?
- Which services should be supplied locally and which in “centres of excellence” that serve more than the local community?
- How can best practices be shared across communities?
- Given that complementary and alternative medical systems (CAM) are low energy systems, how can they be integrated into the conventional medical system? How would an integrated medical system be managed and funded?
- What and where are the medical resources in the local community – doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, CAM practitioners, health workers of all kinds? Do we have enough to serve local needs? If not, how can we train more?
- What will be the role of the pharmacist when pharmaceuticals and drugs are in short supply? Do formulas and the ingredients exist for the making up of standard remedies?
- How are those with critical medical needs to be supported? Where will essential drugs such as insulin and thyroxine come from? How will scarce resources and facilities be allocated? Must rationing be imposed?
- Will the high energy machines such as MRI, CT scanners and X-Ray machines be available?
- What self help programs exist? What can people safely do for themselves?
- What herbal medicines can be developed as alternatives to pharmaceuticals and how must these be produced?
The Transition Health & Medicine Groups act as hubs to coordinate ideas and research from a diverse network of groups, organisations and individuals from the private, public, voluntary and community sectors. The Health & Medicine Group emerges from an awareness-raising program targeted at all members of the local health community, focused on the impact of Peak Oil and Climate Change on health and medicine.