A green hospital | Gilberto Fleites | TEDxHavana
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0:16 - 0:21I am a dreamer and for the past 20 years
I've had a recurrent dream. -
0:22 - 0:27The dream of building a hospital
that works as a bridge -
0:28 - 0:30between medicine and ecology,
-
0:30 - 0:34by using the tools
of sustainable architecture. -
0:35 - 0:37My occupation is oncologic surgery.
-
0:38 - 0:44That means that every day my fundamental
job is to operate people with cancer. -
0:44 - 0:50Throughout 25 years, I operated
on more than 2000 cases like this one: -
0:50 - 0:55This is a CAT scan of
a patient with lung cancer -
0:55 - 0:59and, unfortunately, is a really
frequent part of my daily job. -
1:00 - 1:02But it shouldn't be that way.
-
1:02 - 1:05Ideally, I should be able
to let go of the scalpel -
1:05 - 1:08thanks to an effective prevention.
-
1:08 - 1:11In retrospective, when I look
at the spring creek of my life -
1:12 - 1:15I see that my daily contact
with cancer, its study, -
1:16 - 1:21has change the way I see medicine
and the way I see the world. -
1:21 - 1:24Before, I just thought about
just cutting... -
1:24 - 1:26My mind now is more preventive.
-
1:27 - 1:31This led me to become a vegetarian in '94
-
1:31 - 1:37and to study the ecological, economic,
political, and environmental subjects -
1:38 - 1:41to be able to solve the problems,
or part of the problems -
1:41 - 1:44that affect our planet.
-
1:44 - 1:50In this course, throughout life,
I found inspiring the life and work -
1:50 - 1:55of revolutionaries like Albert Schweitzer,
winner of the Nobel Peace Prize -
1:55 - 1:59whose slogan was "reverence for life",
-
1:59 - 2:02and in that reverence, logically,
he was also a vegetarian. -
2:02 - 2:09And Potter's work, who created the modern
concept of "bioethics, the ethic of life" -
2:09 - 2:15which he saw as a bridge between humanity
and planet Earth, towards the future. -
2:16 - 2:23I like to compare what we do to our bodies
with what we do to Mother Earth's body. -
2:23 - 2:28You know about the basic food groups
for a healthy life. -
2:28 - 2:32And you also know the concept
of "junk food", "fast food." -
2:33 - 2:38Unfortunately, in the pictures
you can see the four basic food groups -
2:38 - 2:41for many Cubans.
-
2:41 - 2:46And here are the consequences:
cancer is the leading cause of death -
2:46 - 2:48for Cuban people.
-
2:48 - 2:53And when we walk on the country's streets,
we witness the growing obesity epidemic -
2:53 - 2:59that is associated with diabetes,
hypertension, ischemic heart disease -
2:59 - 3:04and many other things that probably
many people sitting in the audience -
3:04 - 3:06are also suffering from.
-
3:06 - 3:08This is not a normal situation.
-
3:09 - 3:16I make the comparison between junk food
and what we feed Mother Earth with. -
3:17 - 3:23Look at those chimneys that are polluting
our air, our earth, our water, our food, -
3:24 - 3:29and is exactly that,
and we're also doing it in Cuba, -
3:29 - 3:33what causes that when we look at the
horizon in the morning, -
3:33 - 3:43we see a gray layer of smoke that covers
the city and we're breathing it every day. -
3:43 - 3:46What you're seeing right now
is not a factory's chimney, -
3:46 - 3:49is not a thermal power station's chimney,
nor a refinery's chimney; -
3:49 - 3:54is a hospital's chimney, and now,
let me tell you the concept that -
3:54 - 4:01a traditional hospital, worldwide not just
in Cuba, heals and kills at the same time. -
4:02 - 4:05A hospital is a huge contributor
to the planet's pollution. -
4:05 - 4:13Is a huge user of fossil fuels' powered
energy, is a huge user of products -
4:13 - 4:15that after being used,
are thrown away, -
4:15 - 4:20not recycled, contributing
to Earth's pollution. -
4:21 - 4:25That results in cancer
and many other things. -
4:25 - 4:30Here's the picture of a whole lung,
the left lung of a patient -
4:30 - 4:33I had to operate due to lung cancer.
-
4:34 - 4:38A lot of times we blame
the smoker for his own cancer: -
4:38 - 4:42"You got cancer and is your fault,
who told you to smoke?" -
4:42 - 4:49But each day, we, the people
that eat healthy, work out, are thin, -
4:49 - 4:55anyway, have a healthy life style,
are more, but because of a sick planet, -
4:55 - 4:59we're also getting cancer,
including lung cancer. -
4:59 - 5:04Even worse,
the childhood cancer's epidemic -
5:04 - 5:06is increasing both in Cuba and worldwide.
-
5:07 - 5:11These babies,
still in their mothers' wombs, -
5:11 - 5:14where they're supposed
to be protected and warm, right? -
5:14 - 5:19isolated from trouble, are already
receiving, "breathing" through -
5:19 - 5:25the blood provided by the umbilical cord,
the poisons the mother has received -
5:25 - 5:27and is receiving during pregnancy.
-
5:28 - 5:33They are not to blame;
we are, the society. -
5:34 - 5:39There are still people that, for
spurious, political, or economical reasons -
5:39 - 5:43say that no, nothing is happening,
we're not destroying Earth, -
5:43 - 5:46and that global warming is false.
-
5:46 - 5:48But, as you can see,
there is a lot of evidence. -
5:48 - 5:53Nobody can argue this anymore
as it's scientifically proven, -
5:53 - 5:55and is time to act.
-
5:56 - 6:01And here is what I want to propose to you:
to build an ecological hospital, -
6:01 - 6:06a sustainable hospital, or what
I like to call, a green hospital. -
6:07 - 6:12It is a society
and nature friendly hospital, -
6:12 - 6:16that solves all of the previously
explained issues. -
6:17 - 6:20It would be a hospital that we could see
as a sustainable company, -
6:20 - 6:26a socially responsible company,
that, on top of healing people, -
6:26 - 6:29it would respect all of the principles,
-
6:29 - 6:32also called the three
pillars of sustainability, -
6:32 - 6:36and those are the social, the economical,
and of course, the ecological one. -
6:37 - 6:41As an example of what is wrong
with buildings in general, -
6:41 - 6:45and hospitals in particular, let's see
some of the data of my own center. -
6:46 - 6:51The IPK, who is a world leader in
tropical medicine and infectious diseases, -
6:51 - 6:55consumes 20 ton of oil monthly.
-
6:55 - 7:00Imagine to spill 20 tons of oil
anywhere in the country. -
7:01 - 7:04And it consumes 10 megawatts
of electricity daily. -
7:04 - 7:08It was built without eaves
to block rain and sun light. -
7:09 - 7:16The huge surfaces of the roof are painted
in a dark color, absorb heat from the sun -
7:16 - 7:19and they transmit it
to the rooms below them. -
7:19 - 7:24If I could cover these surfaces
with solar panels, -
7:24 - 7:29well, we could cut the thick
electrical cable that feeds the center. -
7:29 - 7:34Plus, these are some of the materials
I use daily in my operating room. -
7:34 - 7:37There are materials
of high economical value: -
7:37 - 7:42they're more expensive every day,
and on top of that, -
7:42 - 7:44they leave a huge ecological print.
-
7:45 - 7:47A lot of them come from oil.
-
7:48 - 7:55Imagine what will happen in 30 or 50 years
when the oil world reserves run out -
7:55 - 8:00and they don't have anything to make
latex gloves, syringes, catheters, -
8:00 - 8:02or serum bags with.
-
8:02 - 8:04How are we going
to practice medicine then? -
8:04 - 8:10As a doctor and a surgeon,
it scares me to think of that future -
8:10 - 8:13when I will have the know-how to do things
but not have the tools to do them. -
8:14 - 8:18At the end of the day,
these high economical value products -
8:19 - 8:23aren't recycled: they are taken
to a dumpster, or worse, -
8:23 - 8:29they are taken to a furnace where
we spend even more oil to burn them -
8:29 - 8:32producing toxic smoke
that is released to the atmosphere. -
8:32 - 8:35Meaning that it is
a very problematic cycle. -
8:35 - 8:40I present to you my dream:
to build a green hospital. -
8:41 - 8:46I want to cut the tumor
that's destroying humanity -
8:46 - 8:49with the scalpel
of sustainable architecture. -
8:49 - 8:54This dream hasn't been built yet,
but in my mind, it has been. -
8:54 - 8:58Is a castle on the clouds,
is the work of young architects -
8:58 - 9:01with whom we're developing these ideas.
-
9:01 - 9:07And I see it as a patient and
and a planet friendly hospital. -
9:08 - 9:11The initial concept we have is that
of a surgical clinic, -
9:11 - 9:14because that's my job,
conceptualized around -
9:14 - 9:20four operating rooms, and everything else
is according to these surgical units. -
9:21 - 9:25It could be built within the city,
but in my dream I see it -
9:25 - 9:31on the outskirts of it,
by the sea or by a hill. -
9:31 - 9:39Its roofs and facades will be covered
of solar panels, solar heaters, -
9:39 - 9:45wind generators, in a way that
would have 100 percent energy autonomy, -
9:45 - 9:50while, at the same time, the internal
energy consumption would be low due to -
9:50 - 9:54the many technologies
that we now have available. -
9:54 - 10:00This way, we achieve the philosophical,
bio-ethical basic idea -
10:00 - 10:02I've been talking to you about.
-
10:02 - 10:06Plus, it would be a hospital
that in its physical architecture, -
10:06 - 10:10and its workers' spiritual architecture,
-
10:10 - 10:14it wouldn't scare
the patients and their families. -
10:14 - 10:16It would be a joyful place to work in,
-
10:16 - 10:20and if joy is possible
when you go in as a patient, -
10:20 - 10:24we would work our hardest
to achieve that goal. -
10:24 - 10:29The time has come to achieve this,
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10:29 - 10:34Cuba is an ideal place to develop
this type of project. -
10:34 - 10:38The green hospital is a win-win situation,
-
10:38 - 10:42is a social, economic,
ecologic, political win. -
10:43 - 10:46It would be an additional
way of establishing: -
10:46 - 10:52is a revolution and an evolution
that establish even further -
10:52 - 10:56Cuba's well deserved fame
in the field of medicine. -
10:56 - 11:02This way, we could hope that
by building green hospitals and, -
11:02 - 11:05also solving all the issues
that the planet has, -
11:06 - 11:12in 100 years from now these images
were yesterday's nightmares, -
11:12 - 11:13yesterday's bad memories.
-
11:13 - 11:19And I hope that in 100 years from now
my job could cease to exist. -
11:19 - 11:24The evidence is enough:
is time to stop talking. -
11:24 - 11:27Join me to build the green hospital.
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11:27 - 11:28Thank you very much.
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11:28 - 11:31(Applause)
- Title:
- A green hospital | Gilberto Fleites | TEDxHavana
- Description:
-
For many years Fleites has been working on a project to build a "Green Hospital" in Cuba. His knowledge of medicine and bioethics has motivated him to defend the possibility to create a space where people cannot only be cured, but also a space where the environment is respected. A sustainable green hospital will be the one where the purpose of healing human beings will be combined with the rational use of water, renewable energy, and other resources.
Fleites is a ontological general surgeon with 30 years of experience in the field.
He managed for more that ten years, the Servicio de Cirugía Esplácnica in the National institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (INOR). Bioethics is one of his areas of investigation through his link with the Cuban Medical Committee for Global Survival (IPPNW Cuban branch) and the Centro Felix Varela. Fleites is currently working as a surgeon in the Institute of Tropical Medicine 'Pedro Kouri' (IPK). Among his latest projects is the construction of a green hospital as a pillar for sustainable medicine.This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- Spanish
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 11:55
Sebastian Betti approved English subtitles for Un hospital verde | Gilberto Fleites | TEDxHabana | ||
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Anamaria Cabrera edited English subtitles for Un hospital verde | Gilberto Fleites | TEDxHabana | ||
Anamaria Cabrera edited English subtitles for Un hospital verde | Gilberto Fleites | TEDxHabana | ||
Anamaria Cabrera edited English subtitles for Un hospital verde | Gilberto Fleites | TEDxHabana | ||
Anamaria Cabrera edited English subtitles for Un hospital verde | Gilberto Fleites | TEDxHabana |