文章基本信息

标题：Petroleum Scarcity and Public Health: Considerations for Local Health Departments
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作者：Daniel J. Barnett ; Cindy L. Parker ; Virginia A. Caine 等
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2011
卷号：101
期号：9
页码：1580-1586
DOI：10.2105/AJPH.2011.300126
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：Recognition of petroleum as a finite global resource has spurred increasing interest in the intersection between petroleum scarcity and public health. Local health departments represent a critical yet highly vulnerable component of the public health infrastructure. These frontline agencies currently face daunting resource constraints and rely heavily on petroleum for vital population-based health services. Against this backdrop, petroleum scarcity may necessitate reconfiguring local public health service approaches. We describe the anticipated impacts of petroleum scarcity on local health departments, recommend the use of the 10 Essential Public Health Services as a framework for examining attendant operational challenges and potential responses to them, and describe approaches that local health departments and their stakeholders could consider as part of timely planning efforts. Situated at the front line of population-based health service delivery, local health departments (LHDs) are a critical yet increasingly fragile component of governmental infrastructure.¹ In recent years, the confluence of budgetary shortfalls, shifting public health workforce demographics, and a new set of emergency response expectations has forced LHDs to do more with fewer resources.^{1 – 3} Against this already challenging backdrop, geologists and economists have projected that global petroleum production will likely peak soon while global demand for petroleum continues to rise, yielding a growing supply-demand gap that drives prices upward.⁴ Rising petroleum prices can be expected to trigger economic stagnation and contraction, eroding demand and reducing prices somewhat until economic recovery ensues and prices increase again, thus starting the cycle anew. Each cycle will leave the economy less robust than previously.⁵ Adding to the public health consequences of these economic hardships will be the health impacts of global climate change, including increases in extreme weather, droughts, and floods; challenges to food and water supplies; worsening air quality; more frequent and severe heat waves; and increasing risks of infectious diseases.^{6 – 8} These dynamics will have profound operational implications for LHDs. The above economic and climate-induced impacts will heighten demand for local public health services, whereas rising petroleum prices amid a flagging economy will reduce the resources available for LHDs to respond to community needs. Amid increasing hazards resulting from climate change, the maxim that “all disasters begin locally” will become more salient than ever, requiring local public health systems to become more resilient. Specifically, LHDs rely heavily on petroleum for routine and emergency services and supplies. In this article, we examine the anticipated challenges for LHDs related to petroleum scarcity. In doing so, we highlight the 10 Essential Public Health Services defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention⁹ as an analytic lens through which to identify relevant vulnerabilities, recommend potential workarounds, and propose a set of practical decision-making criteria that LHDs can use to address these challenges.