Anja Leetz – We only have one planet and we must jointly address health concerns

Executive director of Health Care without Harm advocates for sustainable and green health care

It’s one thing to hold discussions and summits on climate change and environmental impacts on human health. It’s a whole different story to implement change. For Anja Leetz, the executive director of Health Care Without Harm, it’s equally important to understand that health care professionals can drive change, healing both patients and the environment.

Bringing to the table a unique perspective on the health sector and what it means to be healthy, Leetz joined her peers at Schloss Leopoldskron as a member of the 2018 cohort of Sciana: The Health Leaders Network. After nine years in her position, Leetz still questions how health care is practised and reimagines how services can be provided.

Health Care Without Harm has spent more than 20 years working with the health sector to better understand its impact on the environment and become more sustainable. It is a global network of hospitals across Europe, the U.S., Latin America, and Asia.

“It’s important that we broaden our understanding of how we deliver health. We work on the premise of the Hippocratic Oath, first, do no harm… we have an impact beyond the patient.”

Part of Leetz’s role is “scanning the horizon” for emerging issues, something she admitted allows for an inspiring amount of creativity and capacity-building in her work. Observing the environmental data, listening to the ongoing climate debate, and considering the recent controversy over the Paris Agreement, Leetz believes we’re heading in a dangerous direction.

She said, “We have species loss, we have climate change, we have loss of biodiversity… We have only one planet, and so we have to have conversations, not just at [a] local level, national, or regional level, but also understanding that we can only jointly solve the challenges that we’re all facing…”

Networking is an essential part of locating these solutions because, as Leetz explains, achieving faster implementation of national case studies through legislation is vital. Partnerships with the World Health Organization, the UNDP and others encourage bilateral cooperation.

Leetz suggested alliances with other organisations and initiatives, such as the Sciana Network, could help Health Care Without Harm further increase its impact.

“Coming to Sciana, listening to other people’s challenges makes me feel that our own challenges aren’t so unique… it’s interesting to see how other people are approaching… the question of innovation… There are good opportunities to look at improvements [in] how we do our own work…”

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