Armidale GP and environmentalist Dr Sujata Allan believes there needs to be a coordinated strategy to prepare towns, communities, and health practices for climate change.
She is dedicated to raising awareness of the health impacts of climate change, and advocating to promote public health. In her practice, she has already seen the toll a warming, drying planet has taken on her patients. She sees that the prolonged drought has increased financial stress and anxiety about water, and caused diagnosable mental illnesses, depression, and suicide to rise.
Dr Allan currently works in Aboriginal health, is a senior lecturer at the School of Rural Medicine at the University of New England, and is on the national management committee of Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA).