ABSTRACT:
Public health has long served as a bridge between scientific evidence and societal change, with health professionals historically leading efforts to address structural determinants of health. From tobacco control to the HIV Access-to-Medicines (A2M) movement in Africa to environmental justice (EJ) campaigns against polluting industries, public health advocacy has consistently shifted harmful power dynamics and advanced policy reforms. As the climate crisis magnifies inequities and produces cascading health harms, this legacy offers a vital blueprint. This session will explore how past health-led social justice movements can inform contemporary climate-health advocacy.

METHODS:
This session will look at the learnings of a few landmark movements in the history of health advocacy: HIV A2M in Africa, focusing on health professionals’ mobilisation for treatment equity. Global tobacco control, examining the role of medical and public health leaders in countering industry disinformation and securing regulatory frameworks. EJ campaigns, particularly community–health collaborations in marginalised communities. Occupational health reforms looking at the health data from clinics in shaping the workers safety, especially in case of Black Lung Disease. The advocacy strategies identified in these movements have been mapped against current climate-health challenges to assess transferability.

RESULTS:
Across all cases, effective advocacy shared four core mechanisms: trusted health professionals reframed social harms as preventable public health crises; cross-sector coalitions amplified moral authority and political pressure; corporate disinformation and conflicts of interest were exposed; and health-centred advocacy delivered structural policy change, from the WHO FCTC to expanded antiretroviral access and stronger environmental justice protections.

CONCLUSIONS:
Lessons from A2M, tobacco control, EJ campaigns show that health professionals possess a unique ability to translate evidence into justice-oriented policy reform. Applying this legacy to the climate crisis, arguably the defining health emergency of the century, is essential to advance equitable, rights-based climate action and protect people.