The Future Is Now: My Journey So Far In Planetary Health
Aminat Adebayo, University of Ibadan
Planetary Health Campus Ambassador
Hello there! My name is Aminat Adebayo, and I’m a Planetary Health Campus Ambassador at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. One of my greatest personal achievements this year has been becoming a part of this tremendous community. The Planetary Health Alliance Community not only encourages diversity, but also enables individuals to work hand in hand to make the earth a better place to live in.
BECOMING A PLANETARY HEALTH CAMPUS AMBASSADOR
I am an environmental health enthusiast, and am passionate about making the environment healthier and safer.. In college I took a course titled “Environmental Extension,” which opened my eyes to concepts like climate change, global warming, biodiversity loss, and many others. This has fueled my interest in planetary health and motivated my efforts to further my knowledge of global environmental issues.
I find so much joy in volunteer work as well, and love giving back to my community in any way I can. I volunteered in an Infectious disease program called ” Change Influencers,’’ where I was made the team leader of my local government and addressed vulnerable individuals on HIV/AIDS prevention. The multidisciplinary nature of planetary health and its huge correlation with public health also served as an additional push for me towards becoming a Planetary Health Campus Ambassador, as I’ve always had a great zeal for public health. Getting selected as an ambassador in this competitively-awarded leadership community is a thrilling feeling that I have yet to get over.
Sadly, some of the things I planned to achieve with my fellow campus ambassador co-lead were not fulfilled because school was on lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. We had planned to host a planetary health symposium to reach a larger audience and create a club on campus to educate people about planetary health, all to no avail with social distancing recommendations. Instead, we arranged for online planetary health education programs.
THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK AND HOW IT IMPACTED MY UNDERSTANDING OF PLANETARY HEALTH
The current outbreak has enabled me to understand the intersection of planetary health with many disciplines in different yet important ways. For instance in medicine:
1. Human activities that influence ecosystems have the potential to improve mental health;
2. Environmental changes alter the incidence, prevalence and severity of infectious diseases. Recent natural disasters like wildfire and flooding can be attributed to past actions of deforestation, biodiversity loss from agricultural activities, and pollution from pharmaceutical and textile industries, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and negative climatic impacts’
As a next generational leader, I am obligated to advocate for these global environmental issues and deal with these predicaments.
ACHIEVEMENTS AS A PHCA
It has been an amazing experience to collaborate with my fellow campus ambassadors across the world and come together to promote planetary health.
This year, I contributed to the PHCA video along with other campus ambassadors and mentors, which was made to call people to action on global environmental changes, and was shared in the PHA’s monthly newsletter.
Additionally, I worked alongside other campus ambassadors on a children’s book project, designed to educate young children on the basic components of planetary health.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, global networks designed to obtain translations in all languages for important details concerning coronavirus symptoms needed volunteers to with translations to assist refugees and mitigate the spread of coronavirus. I took part in this project to provide translation in Yoruba language.
Lastly, I used the knowledge I acquired through the PHA regarding global environmental issues and its health impacts to take part in a speech contest in IAAS themed “Climate change and the environment”. Even though I was fidgeting at the beginning of the speech, my passion for the topic kept me going, and I was ultimately awarded the “best speaker” award at the end of the program. Funnily enough, I was not hoping to be recognized as an excellent speaker when I signed up for the contest. I simply saw the need to educate the audience, and too the opportunity to address misconceptions regarding planetary health.
ADVICE TO OTHER NEXT GENERATION LEADERS LOOKING TO TAKE UP PLANETARY HEALTH LEADERSHIP ON THEIR CAMPUS OR BEYOND
Congratulations to everyone who is looking to take planetary health leadership on their campus and beyond. You are not just leading your campus community — you are making impacts on the Earth as a whole. You are a global leader and with people like you we can all change the world. We can all make our planet a safe place to live in. We can all cut down the spread of infectious diseases. We can reduce rates of air pollution.. We can work to stop the acceleration of natural disasters such as wildfires and flooding, which have so often been the results of our past actions .
Planetary health is more than “an inclusion in a school curriculum” — it is a lifestyle. I have never for once regretted my role as an ambassador, and aspire to have a career in the field. I’m writing this blog today to assure you that you too, future leader, can have a similar experience. Your actions have the potential to change the world positively.
