Forbes: Nature Is Medicine: A Doctor’s Call To Rethink Health In The Age Of Climate Change
January 20, 2026What if the most powerful medicine we have isn’t found in a pill or a procedure—but in the soil beneath our feet, the air we breathe, and the trees outside our window?
After decades in medicine—as a heart and lung transplant surgeon, a policymaker, and a healthcare entrepreneur—I’ve come to see something fundamental: the health of our planet and the health of our people are inseparable. Yet we’ve long treated them as two different conversations. That has to change.
Planetary health is human health.
The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the climate we live in directly shape our well-being. When these systems are degraded, our health suffers—physically, mentally, and economically. It’s time we reframe climate change and biodiversity loss for what they truly are: not just environmental threats but escalating human health crises.