EarthMedic and EarthNurse seek to partner with individuals and organizations of like mind to address planetary health issues, which are the health of human civilizations and the state of the underlying natural systems that support it. The current COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call; a push for the world to start anew. The most hopeful sign seen thus far is that most people are willing to work for the planet’s benefit on a massive scale, even as we face the loss of lives and livelihoods from COVID.

After retiring as the inaugural director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in 2019, and with 30 years of experience in global public health, facing public health emergencies, epidemics, disasters, and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Dr. Hospedales as Founder felt impelled to work on Planetary Health.

After much thought, he is establishing EarthMedic as a new NGO ‘to raise urgent attention to and resources for action to improve planetary health, working with an informed and empowered health workforce globally, and through public-private-people-planet (PPPP) partnerships’, which focus on areas of co-beneficial action.

EarthMedic and EarthNurse are not-for-profits with global scope, with special focus on climate-vulnerable regions, anchored in the Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS), and based in Trinidad and Tobago and England, UK.

EarthMedic and EarthNurse seek to partner with individuals and organizations of like mind to address planetary health issues, which are the health of human civilizations and the state of the underlying natural systems that support it. The current COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call; a push for the world to start anew. The most hopeful sign seen thus far is that most people are willing to work for the planet’s benefit on a massive scale, even as we face the loss of lives and livelihoods from COVID.

EarthMedic and EarthNurse are focused on health and environment-related concerns, with the goal of being a home for nurses, doctors and others, concerned about the climate and health emergency we face, where we can safely discuss our concerns, make connections and share ideas and resources, as well as take action to improve health of self, society and planet. We aim to educate health professionals about the problems they face every day in their workplaces, and how they are linked to the problems of the planet.

Margaret Fay |  Natascha Kersting