Department of Family Medicine

American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Climate Change and Environmental Health Position Paper

Written by Robert Thompson | April 26, 2024

CU DFM Contributions to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Climate Change and Environmental Health Position Paper

In celebration of Earth Week (April 22-27) the AAFP's new position paper on Climate Change and Environmental Health was posted. CU Contributors included DFM's Bhargavi Chekuri, MBBS, MD, MS, as lead author; DFM resident Logan Harper, PGY3, as a contributing author; and Anne Getzin, MD, CU Climate and Health fellow (based in Wisconsin), as a contributing author. 

Led by the AAFP Climate Change and Environmental Health Interest Group, as well as the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Planetary Health Collaborative (which Dr. Chekuri co-chairs), this updated position paper took over 3 years to get across the finish line in time for 2024 Earth Week. The AAFP’s updated position paper reflects a timely and evidence-based understanding of the climate crisis's immense impact on families, communities, and the family medicine workforce. Family medicine providers and teams around the country can look to this position paper as an authoritative resource when grappling with increasingly tangible effects of environmental and climate injustice.