ONLINE: Preventing the Next Pandemic: A Planetary Health Approach

press release: FREE ONLINE EVENT July 21, 7:00 pm: Preventing the Next Pandemic: A Planetary Health Approach 

Connect online to a special video event sponsored by Bethel’s Caring for Creation and Caring for Social Justice groups. The centerpiece is an encore presentation of Professor Jonathan Patz’s brilliant 2020 Earth Day talk that links two urgent global concerns: the threats to human health from viral pandemics and environmental degradation. As relevant now as it was in April, the presentation will be hosted live by two members of Bethel’s re-opening task force, Craig Gjerde and Greg Moses, who will also respond to viewers’ questions after the video presentation. This event will occur this week only in lieu of Pastor Mike’s usual Tuesday Fireside Chat.

UW-Madison Professor Jonathan Patz, a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, is one of the world’s leading authorities on public health, especially its relation to environmental and climate change.

Plagues and pandemics are not only part of our culture–they are caused by it. Viral diseases like Ebola, HIV-AIDS, Dengue fever and now COVID-19 originate in animal hosts but spill over to and spread among humans when environmental factors align. These factors include urbanization, international travel, pollution, and land-use and climate changes. Restoring planetary health will reduce the risk of future pandemics and benefit human health in many ways.

To participate register at: www.bethel-madison.org/c4c

Sponsored by Bethel Lutheran Church, 312 Wisconsin Ave.