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News18
11-08-2025
- Health
- News18
Mental health clinics in violence-prone South Sudan are rare, endangered
Mundri (South Sudan), Aug 11 (AP) Joy Falatiya said her husband kicked her and five children out of their home in March 2024 and that she fell apart after that. Homeless and penniless, the 35-year-old South Sudanese mother said she thought of ending her life. 'I wanted to take my children and jump in the river," she said while cradling a baby outside a room with cracked mud walls where she now stays. But she's made a remarkable recovery months later, thanks to the support of well-wishers and a mental health clinic nearby where she's received counselling since April. She told The Associated Press that her suicidal thoughts are now gone after months of psycho-social therapy, even though she still struggles to feed her children and can't afford to keep them in school. The specialized clinic in her hometown of Mundri, in South Sudan' s Western Equatoria state, is a rare and endangered facility in a country desperate for more such services. Now that the program's funding from Italian and Greek sources is about to end and its future is unclear. The clinic is in one of eight locations chosen for a project that aimed to provide mental health services for the first time to over 20,000 people across this East African country. Launched in late 2022, it proved a lifeline for patients like Falatiya in a country where mental health services are almost non-existent in the government-run health system. Implemented by a group of charities led by Amref Health Africa, the program has partnered with government health centres, Catholic parishes, local radio stations. Across South Sudan, there has been massive displacement of people in the civil war that began in 2013 when government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir fought those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar. The eruption of fighting was a major setback for the world's newest country, which became a major refugee-producing nation just over two years after independence from Sudan. Although a peace deal was reached in 2018, the resumption of hostilities since January led the UN to warn of a possible 'relapse into large scale conflict." The violence persists even today, with Machar under house arrest and government forces continuing with a campaign to weaken his ability to wage war. And poverty — over 90 per cent of the country's people live on less than USD 2.15 per day, according to the World Bank — is rampant in many areas, adding to the mental health pressures many people face, according to experts. In a country heavily dependent on charity to keep the health sector running, access to mental health services lags far behind. The country has the fourth-highest suicide rate in Africa and is ranked thirteenth globally, World Health Organization figures show. In South Sudan, suicide affects mostly the internally displaced, fuelled by confinement and pressures related to poverty, idleness, armed conflict, and gender-based violence, according to the International Organisation for Migration. 'Mental health issues are a huge obstacle to the development of South Sudan," said Jacopo Rovarini, an official with Amref Health Africa. More than a third of those screened by the Amref project 'show signs of either psychological distress or mental health disorders," he said. 'So the burden for the individuals, their families and their communities is huge in this country, and it has gone quite unaddressed so far." Last month, authorities in Juba raised an alarm after 12 cases of suicide were reported in just a week in the South Sudan capital. There were no more details on those cases. Dr. Atong Ayuel Longar, one of South Sudan's very few psychiatrists and the leader of the mental health department at the health ministry, said a pervasive sense of 'uncertainty is what affects the population the most" amid the constant threat of war. 'Because you can't plan for tomorrow," she said. 'Do we need to evacuate? People will be like, No, no, no, there's no war.' Yet you don't feel that sense of peace around you. Things are getting tough." In Mundri, the AP visited several mental health facilities in June and spoke to many patients, including women who have recently lost relatives in South Sudan's conflict. In 2015, the Mundri area was ravaged by fighting between opposition forces and government troops, leading to widespread displacement, looting and sexual violence. Ten years later, many have not recovered from this episode and fear similar fighting could resume there.(AP) RD RD (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 11, 2025, 13:00 IST News agency-feeds Mental health clinics in violence-prone South Sudan are rare, endangered Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
11-08-2025
- Health
Mental health clinics in violence-prone South Sudan are rare and endangered
MUNDRI, South Sudan -- Joy Falatiya said her husband kicked her and five children out of their home in March 2024 and that she fell apart after that. Homeless and penniless, the 35-year-old South Sudanese mother said she thought of ending her life. 'I wanted to take my children and jump in the river,' she said while cradling a baby outside a room with cracked mud walls where she now stays. But she's made a remarkable recovery months later, thanks to the support of well-wishers and a mental health clinic nearby where she's received counseling since April. She told The Associated Press that her suicidal thoughts are now gone after months of psycho-social therapy, even though she still struggles to feed her children and can't afford to keep them in school. The specialized clinic in her hometown of Mundri, in South Sudan' s Western Equatoria state, is a rare and endangered facility in a country desperate for more such services. Now that the program's funding from Italian and Greek sources is about to end and its future is unclear. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at Internationally, many governments and other organizations offer help and information on how to contact them is available online. ___ The clinic is in one of eight locations chosen for a project that aimed to provide mental health services for the first time to over 20,000 people across this East African country. Launched in late 2022, it proved a lifeline for patients like Falatiya in a country where mental health services are almost non-existent in the government-run health system. Implemented by a group of charities led by Amref Health Africa, the program has partnered with government health centers, Catholic parishes, local radio stations. Across South Sudan, there has been massive displacement of people in the civil war that began in 2013 when government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir fought those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar. The eruption of fighting was a major setback for the world's newest country, which became a major refugee-producing nation just over two years after independence from Sudan. Although a peace deal was reached in 2018, the resumption of hostilities since January led the U.N. to warn of a possible 'relapse into large scale conflict.' The violence persists even today, with Machar under house arrest and government forces continuing with a campaign to weaken his ability to wage war. And poverty — over 90% of the country's people live on less than $2.15 per day, according to the World Bank — is rampant in many areas, adding to the mental health pressures many people face, according to experts. In a country heavily dependent on charity to keep the health sector running, access to mental health services lags far behind. The country has the fourth-highest suicide rate in Africa and is ranked thirteenth globally, World Health Organization figures show. In South Sudan, suicide affects mostly the internally displaced, fueled by confinement and pressures related to poverty, idleness, armed conflict, and gender-based violence, according to the International Organization for Migration. 'Mental health issues are a huge obstacle to the development of South Sudan,' said Jacopo Rovarini, an official with Amref Health Africa. More than a third of those screened by the Amref project 'show signs of either psychological distress or mental health disorders,' he said. "So the burden for the individuals, their families and their communities is huge in this country, and it has gone quite unaddressed so far.' Last month, authorities in Juba raised an alarm after 12 cases of suicide were reported in just a week in the South Sudan capital. There were no more details on those cases. Dr. Atong Ayuel Longar, one of South Sudan's very few psychiatrists and the leader of the mental health department at the health ministry, said a pervasive sense of 'uncertainty is what affects the population the most" amid the constant threat of war. 'Because you can't plan for tomorrow," she said. 'Do we need to evacuate? People will be like, 'No, no, no, there's no war.' Yet you don't feel that sense of peace around you. Things are getting tough." In Mundri, the AP visited several mental health facilities in June and spoke to many patients, including women who have recently lost relatives in South Sudan's conflict. In 2015, the Mundri area was ravaged by fighting between opposition forces and government troops, leading to widespread displacement, looting and sexual violence. Ten years later, many have not recovered from this episode and fear similar fighting could resume there. 'There are many mad people in the villages," said Paul Monday, a local youth leader, using a common derogatory word for those who are mentally unwell. 'It's so common because we lost a lot of things during the war. We had to flee and our properties were looted.' 'In our community here, when you're mad you're abandoned,' Monday said. As one of the charities seeking to expand mental health services, the Catholic non-governmental organization Caritas organizes sessions of Self Help Plus, a group-based stress management course launched by WHO in 2021. Attended mostly by women, sessions offer simple exercises they can repeat at home to reduce stress. Longar, the psychiatrist, said she believes the community must be equipped with tools 'to heal and to help themselves by themselves, and break the cycle of trauma." But she worries about whether such support can be kept sustainable as funds continue to dwindle, reflecting the retreat by the United States from its once-generous foreign aid program. The project that may have helped save Falatiya's life, funded until November by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Athens-based Stavros Niarchos Foundation, will come to an end without additional donor funding. Specialized mental health services provided at health centers such as the Mundri clinic may collapse. 'What happened to me in the past was very dangerous, but the thought of bad things can be removed,' Falatiya said, surveying a garden she cultivates outside her small home where a local man has allowed her to stay after taking pity on her. She said that she hopes the clinic will still be around if and when her 'bad thoughts' return. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
11-08-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
Mental health clinics in violence-prone South Sudan are rare and endangered
MUNDRI, South Sudan (AP) — Joy Falatiya said her husband kicked her and five children out of their home in March 2024 and that she fell apart after that. Homeless and penniless, the 35-year-old South Sudanese mother said she thought of ending her life. 'I wanted to take my children and jump in the river,' she said while cradling a baby outside a room with cracked mud walls where she now stays. But she's made a remarkable recovery months later, thanks to the support of well-wishers and a mental health clinic nearby where she's received counseling since April. She told The Associated Press that her suicidal thoughts are now gone after months of psycho-social therapy, even though she still struggles to feed her children and can't afford to keep them in school. The specialized clinic in her hometown of Mundri, in South Sudan' s Western Equatoria state, is a rare and endangered facility in a country desperate for more such services. Now that the program's funding from Italian and Greek sources is about to end and its future is unclear. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at Internationally, many governments and other organizations offer help and information on how to contact them is available online. ___ The clinic is in one of eight locations chosen for a project that aimed to provide mental health services for the first time to over 20,000 people across this East African country. Launched in late 2022, it proved a lifeline for patients like Falatiya in a country where mental health services are almost non-existent in the government-run health system. Implemented by a group of charities led by Amref Health Africa, the program has partnered with government health centers, Catholic parishes, local radio stations. Across South Sudan, there has been massive displacement of people in the civil war that began in 2013 when government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir fought those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar. The eruption of fighting was a major setback for the world's newest country, which became a major refugee-producing nation just over two years after independence from Sudan. Although a peace deal was reached in 2018, the resumption of hostilities since January led the U.N. to warn of a possible 'relapse into large scale conflict.' The violence persists even today, with Machar under house arrest and government forces continuing with a campaign to weaken his ability to wage war. And poverty — over 90% of the country's people live on less than $2.15 per day, according to the World Bank — is rampant in many areas, adding to the mental health pressures many people face, according to experts. In a country heavily dependent on charity to keep the health sector running, access to mental health services lags far behind. The country has the fourth-highest suicide rate in Africa and is ranked thirteenth globally, World Health Organization figures show. In South Sudan, suicide affects mostly the internally displaced, fueled by confinement and pressures related to poverty, idleness, armed conflict, and gender-based violence, according to the International Organization for Migration. 'Mental health issues are a huge obstacle to the development of South Sudan,' said Jacopo Rovarini, an official with Amref Health Africa. More than a third of those screened by the Amref project 'show signs of either psychological distress or mental health disorders,' he said. "So the burden for the individuals, their families and their communities is huge in this country, and it has gone quite unaddressed so far.' Last month, authorities in Juba raised an alarm after 12 cases of suicide were reported in just a week in the South Sudan capital. There were no more details on those cases. Dr. Atong Ayuel Longar, one of South Sudan's very few psychiatrists and the leader of the mental health department at the health ministry, said a pervasive sense of 'uncertainty is what affects the population the most" amid the constant threat of war. 'Because you can't plan for tomorrow," she said. 'Do we need to evacuate? People will be like, 'No, no, no, there's no war.' Yet you don't feel that sense of peace around you. Things are getting tough." In Mundri, the AP visited several mental health facilities in June and spoke to many patients, including women who have recently lost relatives in South Sudan's conflict. In 2015, the Mundri area was ravaged by fighting between opposition forces and government troops, leading to widespread displacement, looting and sexual violence. Ten years later, many have not recovered from this episode and fear similar fighting could resume there. 'There are many mad people in the villages," said Paul Monday, a local youth leader, using a common derogatory word for those who are mentally unwell. 'It's so common because we lost a lot of things during the war. We had to flee and our properties were looted.' 'In our community here, when you're mad you're abandoned,' Monday said. As one of the charities seeking to expand mental health services, the Catholic non-governmental organization Caritas organizes sessions of Self Help Plus, a group-based stress management course launched by WHO in 2021. Attended mostly by women, sessions offer simple exercises they can repeat at home to reduce stress. Longar, the psychiatrist, said she believes the community must be equipped with tools 'to heal and to help themselves by themselves, and break the cycle of trauma." But she worries about whether such support can be kept sustainable as funds continue to dwindle, reflecting the retreat by the United States from its once-generous foreign aid program. The project that may have helped save Falatiya's life, funded until November by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Athens-based Stavros Niarchos Foundation, will come to an end without additional donor funding. Specialized mental health services provided at health centers such as the Mundri clinic may collapse. 'What happened to me in the past was very dangerous, but the thought of bad things can be removed,' Falatiya said, surveying a garden she cultivates outside her small home where a local man has allowed her to stay after taking pity on her. She said that she hopes the clinic will still be around if and when her 'bad thoughts' return. ___
Winnipeg Free Press
11-08-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mental health clinics in violence-prone South Sudan are rare and endangered
MUNDRI, South Sudan (AP) — Joy Falatiya said her husband kicked her and five children out of their home in March 2024 and that she fell apart after that. Homeless and penniless, the 35-year-old South Sudanese mother said she thought of ending her life. 'I wanted to take my children and jump in the river,' she said while cradling a baby outside a room with cracked mud walls where she now stays. But she's made a remarkable recovery months later, thanks to the support of well-wishers and a mental health clinic nearby where she's received counseling since April. She told The Associated Press that her suicidal thoughts are now gone after months of psycho-social therapy, even though she still struggles to feed her children and can't afford to keep them in school. The specialized clinic in her hometown of Mundri, in South Sudan' s Western Equatoria state, is a rare and endangered facility in a country desperate for more such services. Now that the program's funding from Italian and Greek sources is about to end and its future is unclear. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at Internationally, many governments and other organizations offer help and information on how to contact them is available online. ___ The clinic is in one of eight locations chosen for a project that aimed to provide mental health services for the first time to over 20,000 people across this East African country. Launched in late 2022, it proved a lifeline for patients like Falatiya in a country where mental health services are almost non-existent in the government-run health system. Implemented by a group of charities led by Amref Health Africa, the program has partnered with government health centers, Catholic parishes, local radio stations. Across South Sudan, there has been massive displacement of people in the civil war that began in 2013 when government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir fought those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar. The eruption of fighting was a major setback for the world's newest country, which became a major refugee-producing nation just over two years after independence from Sudan. Although a peace deal was reached in 2018, the resumption of hostilities since January led the U.N. to warn of a possible 'relapse into large scale conflict.' The violence persists even today, with Machar under house arrest and government forces continuing with a campaign to weaken his ability to wage war. And poverty — over 90% of the country's people live on less than $2.15 per day, according to the World Bank — is rampant in many areas, adding to the mental health pressures many people face, according to experts. In a country heavily dependent on charity to keep the health sector running, access to mental health services lags far behind. The country has the fourth-highest suicide rate in Africa and is ranked thirteenth globally, World Health Organization figures show. In South Sudan, suicide affects mostly the internally displaced, fueled by confinement and pressures related to poverty, idleness, armed conflict, and gender-based violence, according to the International Organization for Migration. 'Mental health issues are a huge obstacle to the development of South Sudan,' said Jacopo Rovarini, an official with Amref Health Africa. More than a third of those screened by the Amref project 'show signs of either psychological distress or mental health disorders,' he said. 'So the burden for the individuals, their families and their communities is huge in this country, and it has gone quite unaddressed so far.' Last month, authorities in Juba raised an alarm after 12 cases of suicide were reported in just a week in the South Sudan capital. There were no more details on those cases. Dr. Atong Ayuel Longar, one of South Sudan's very few psychiatrists and the leader of the mental health department at the health ministry, said a pervasive sense of 'uncertainty is what affects the population the most' amid the constant threat of war. 'Because you can't plan for tomorrow,' she said. 'Do we need to evacuate? People will be like, 'No, no, no, there's no war.' Yet you don't feel that sense of peace around you. Things are getting tough.' In Mundri, the AP visited several mental health facilities in June and spoke to many patients, including women who have recently lost relatives in South Sudan's conflict. In 2015, the Mundri area was ravaged by fighting between opposition forces and government troops, leading to widespread displacement, looting and sexual violence. Ten years later, many have not recovered from this episode and fear similar fighting could resume there. 'There are many mad people in the villages,' said Paul Monday, a local youth leader, using a common derogatory word for those who are mentally unwell. 'It's so common because we lost a lot of things during the war. We had to flee and our properties were looted.' 'In our community here, when you're mad you're abandoned,' Monday said. As one of the charities seeking to expand mental health services, the Catholic non-governmental organization Caritas organizes sessions of Self Help Plus, a group-based stress management course launched by WHO in 2021. Attended mostly by women, sessions offer simple exercises they can repeat at home to reduce stress. Longar, the psychiatrist, said she believes the community must be equipped with tools 'to heal and to help themselves by themselves, and break the cycle of trauma.' But she worries about whether such support can be kept sustainable as funds continue to dwindle, reflecting the retreat by the United States from its once-generous foreign aid program. The project that may have helped save Falatiya's life, funded until November by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Athens-based Stavros Niarchos Foundation, will come to an end without additional donor funding. Specialized mental health services provided at health centers such as the Mundri clinic may collapse. 'What happened to me in the past was very dangerous, but the thought of bad things can be removed,' Falatiya said, surveying a garden she cultivates outside her small home where a local man has allowed her to stay after taking pity on her. She said that she hopes the clinic will still be around if and when her 'bad thoughts' return. ___ For more on Africa and development: ___ The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Scoop
24-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Over 30 Health Organisations Shun PR And Ad Agencies That Work For Fossil Fuel Industry
Press Release – Global Climate and Health Alliance To support more organisations in making the Fossil-Free Health Communications commitment, the Global Climate and Health Alliance has published Break the Fossil Influence – Guidance for Health Organizations to Screen PR & Media Agencies. Geneva, 22 May 2025:- Thirty influential health organisations representing the interests of over 12 million health professionals worldwide — including major global health voices and health professional associations at the international, national, and regional levels—have signed a commitment to no longer work with PR and ad agencies that also provide services to the fossil fuel industry. The organisations have signed up to the Break the Fossil Influence – Fossil-Free Health Communications campaign, which launched today during the World Health Assembly (WHA 78) in Geneva. Organisations that have made the commitment include Amref Health Africa, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), The Lancet, along with the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations, (IFMSA), the World Federation of Public Health Association(WFPHA), World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA), Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health and UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC). To support more organisations in making the Fossil-Free Health Communications commitment, the Global Climate and Health Alliance has published Break the Fossil Influence – Guidance for Health Organizations to Screen PR & Media Agencies. 'Fossil fuels are making people sick—and the companies behind them are spending millions on advertising and PR to cover it up', said Shweta Narayan, Campaign Lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance, which developed the initiative. 'The same PR firms spreading fossil fuel disinformation are also working with health organizations—a clear conflict of interest for health. Through the Break the Fossil Influence – Fossil-Free Health Communications commitment, health organizations are leading by example by cutting ties with agencies that provide services to the fossil fuel industry.' 'Health organizations have great power that they can bring to bear in their hiring of advertising, marketing, and design companies by choosing to work only with agencies that do not take money from fossil fuel companies', said Jeni Miller, Global Executive Director of Climate and Health Alliance. 'The Fossil-Free Health Communications Commitment is a way for the health sector to show leadership not just by speaking out or by making their own operations sustainable and climate resilient, but by refusing to work with businesses that support polluters.' 'Just like health leaders once stood up to Big Tobacco and its advertising, it's time to stand up to Big Oil', continued Miller. 'By making the Fossil-Free Health Communications commitment, organizations are demonstrating that they won't help spread fossil fuel disinformation, and will use every tool they have, including their ad and PR dollars to protect people's health and the planet.' 'Ad and PR agencies should listen to the overwhelming medical evidence of the harm of fossil fuels, and drop polluting clients immediately. Fossil fuel pollution is a threat to every aspect of human health, and incompatible with the business goals of the rest of the ad industry', said Duncan Meisel, Executive Director, Clean Creatives. 'The organisations signing this new commitment are laying down an important marker for the entire health sector: agencies with fossil fuel clients have a clear conflict of interest for any company trying to protect human health.' Fossil fuels are making people sick—and the companies behind them are spending millions on advertising and PR to cover it up. The Break the Fossil Influence – Fossil-Free Health Communications campaign is calling on health organizations to lead by example: to stop working with PR and ad agencies that also work for the fossil fuel industry. 'It is important as a health industry to make a stand, like we did during the anti-tobacco campaign, that we will not engage with PR companies and advertising agencies that are assisting fossil fuel companies to conceal the truth. And by doing so, we will force them to make the right choice. And the right choice is a choice for health and for healthy communities.' – Dr Githinji Gitahi, Group CEO, Amref Health Africa 'As health professionals guided by humanitarian values, we have a responsibility to speak out when public health is under threat. Fossil fuels are at the heart of a growing global health crisis, and the PR and advertising firms that help obscure this reality undermine efforts to protect lives. We call on our peers and institutions to reconsider partnerships with agencies that serve fossil fuel interests. Aligning our communications with our mission is essential to safeguarding health and maintaining public trust.' – Dr Maria Guevara, International Medical Secretary for Médecins Sans Frontières 'We, the health community, have a duty to warn humanity about the profound health harms being created by burning fossil fuels—including from air pollution and climate change—and to act on that knowledge. The public relations and advertising agencies that represent fossil fuel companies—coal, oil, and gas companies—are aiding and abetting these profound harms to public health. We must take a stand by refusing to work with any marketing agency that works with fossil fuel companies. Our duty, our integrity, and our credibility demand nothing less'. – Edward Maibach, Director, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication and Member, National Academy of Medicine and Former Worldwide Director of Social Marketing, Porter Novelli 'As nurses, we recognize climate change as one of the greatest public health threats of our time. Every day, health professionals around the world are taking care of patients with health conditions like asthma, problems with pregnancies, cardiac issues, and more, that are exacerbated by climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution. For decades, fossil fuel companies have misled the public and obstructed climate action. As health professionals and health organizations, we need to hold ourselves to the highest standards and should not do business with PR and communications firms that also work with fossil fuel companies. Their history of disinformation has no place within the healthcare community.' – Katie Huffling, Executive Director, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments 'As family doctors, we see how air pollution and climate change, driven by fossil fuels, harm our patients' health daily. We must advocate for a rapid, just transition to clean energy for the sake of current and future generations.' – Prof Karen Flegg, President, World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) 'As health leaders we want to breathe life into solutions to climate change so we can safeguard health, wellbeing and life. We need to turn off the oxygen of the fossil fuel industry and the communication they use to deceive and persist.' – Michele Isles, CEO, Climate and Health Alliance, Australia 'The climate crisis is a health crisis, and Canada is already experiencing its effects – from wildfires to extreme weather and rising insurance costs. Health, housing, food, and financial security are all at risk. Governments must act with courage and urgency. Yet, the fossil fuel industry – supported by misleading advertising and public relations tactics, much like those once used by the tobacco industry – continues to sow confusion and delay meaningful action. As health professionals and system leaders, we must cut ties with advertising and PR agencies that serve the fossil fuel industry. We must make it clear that we care about health – and we do not want their services. Join the Break the Fossil Influence campaign – and demand fossil-free health communications.' – Doris Grinspun, Chief Executive Officer, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) 'In a world on fire, health professionals must lead with truth. We cannot claim to protect life while partnering with those who profit from its destruction. It's time for the climate and health community to cut ties with the PR machines fueling fossil fuel deception—because silence is complicity, and health demands courage.' — Dr. Kate Wylie, CEO, Doctors for the Environment Australia
