VAA and The Audacity of Acronyms

This essay was in fact co-authored by Elaine Blacklock M.D. and AC (with apologies for AC’s proclivity for uninhibited interjections)

The world of medicine is strewn with 3-letter acronyms, and no-where is this more true than in the modern NICU.

We have acronyms for everything that could possibly go wrong with a newborn infant: RDS. BPD. IVH. PPH. SGA. LGA. IDM. NAS. UVC. UAC. And on . . . and on.

So perhaps it’s fitting that a pediatrician like Blacklock, and her troublesome alter-ego AC, have invented a NEW ACRONYM. Or at least we are offering up two new meanings for an old one. 

Here’s our contribution to the acronymic Lexicon:

VAA. Yep, VAA.

Think Sheep.

You can pronounce it Vaaahhhh, if you like, to rhyme with Baaahhh.

According to Wikipedia, VAA can refer to anything from

the Vaagri Booli Language of South India

(11,000 native speakers)

to “Voting Advice Application”.

However, OUR meanings are much more sophisticated because they evoke MOVEMENT, a pathway from one place to another. Getting from meaning #1 to meaning #2 is a process of Awakening, of Awareness, of Activation, and it’s all in the service of humanity and our planet.

So let us unveil VAA #1,

which stands for 

Vaguely Anxious Apathy.

Oooooh APATHY. A tricky word.

(AC insisted on using it.)

It sounds negative. No-one really wants to be accused of it. But think about it this way. If we knew a major health disaster was about to descend on the planet, and we didn’t do everything in our power to warn, prevent, mitigate, prepare, and fight, would we not suspect ourselves (or perhaps others) of apathy? Indeed, thanks to AC, poor Blacklock has been dealing with such inner suspicions, even accusations, for years.

But back to APATHY. Let’s expand our minds a bit. APATHY can be construed as FAILING to seriously examine what's happening to the PLANET, WHY it's happening, and WHAT our best experts in science and economics say we should be doing about it. APATHY is going about our lives as if nothing much is happening (other than an endless election, a pandemic, a few new wars, a record-breaking hurricane season, fires, floods, etc. etc.)

APATHY is there in the multiple blue boxes we put out each week right next to the SUVs parked in our driveways.

APATHY drives us as we helplessly purchase another large gas-fueled vehicle that will still be spewing out greenhouse gases in 2035, then drive it home to celebrate with barbequed STEAKS. Apathy is about our shopping habits and the daily choices we make in regard to pretty much EVERYTHING. It's about getting side-tracked by petty arguments and side-issues, while ignoring the MAIN THING upon which everything else will ultimately depend:

THE DRASTIC AND RAPID REDUCTION OF OUR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.

It's about our inability to think beyond our own self-interests and those of “our” people in the here and now. It's about NOT SPEAKING UP, because we DOUBT our voices would make a difference. It’s about not knowing what to do and not bothering to find out. It’s about MONEY, and things, and how we value them, and it’s about so much else.

APATHY is about what we expect and demand of our political systems and our POLITICIANS.

And of course,

it’s about 

WHETHER OR NOT 

and HOW we VOTE. 

That’s the expanse of APATHY, and we’re all guilty of it. As to the ANXIETY, yeah, we feel it. It’s vague, and uncomfortable, and it can even induce some occasional GUILT. And no-one likes feeling guilty. So we avoid reading or thinking too much. Which brings us back to APATHY. Which ultimately is the same thing as DENIAL. 

VAA #2

is a completely different story.

Very Audacious Action!

What is AUDACITY, anyway? Here are some suggested synonyms from the Oxford English Dictionary: daring, bold, confident, perhaps even presumptuous.

Remember Obama and his book The Audacity of Hope?

(Man, he looked like a kid back then!)

Obama suggested that true hope requires audacity. I would go even further and suggest that hope requires AUDACIOUS ACTION. ACTION that’s daring, bold, and confident in the face of a reality that feels overwhelming and even hopeless. ACTION that casts aside hopelessness and helplessness, and steadfastly takes up the greatest CHALLENGES of our times. 

Audacious action is

PERSONAL.

When we seriously examine our carbon footprint, indeed our planetary footprint, and do everything in our power to reduce it, that’s personal. If we want to do it well, we will drive much less or not at all. If we must have a car, it will be electric. We will fly only when it’s truly necessary. And we will drastically reduce our consumption of animal products in favour of much healthier vegetables and legumes. As we engage in personal action, we become role models and gain the credibility and confidence we need to influence others.

Audacious action is

PROFESSIONAL.

Doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals are trusted, respected, and influential. We have powerful voices with which to speak to our families, friends, colleagues, patients, hospital administrators, and professional societies. In fact, many of our professional organizations have come out with extremely strong statements on climate change in recent years, highlighting the health threats, and the many health co-benefits of drastically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Individual health care professionals have made us aware of the climate impact of the health care system itself, not to mention the amount of garbage it produces.

Finally, audacious action must also be . . .

POLITICAL.

Here’s where the greenhouse gases really meet the atmosphere! The oil and gas industries lobby politicians constantly. We acronymous MDs, RNs, RTs, OTs, PTs need to be doing the same thing. What if even 20% of physicians and nurses across North America and Europe paid a visit to their politicians each year to express their concern about the effects of climate change on the HEALTH of their patients, and to demand a rapid decarbonization of our economy? What if, indeed!?

It is NOT enough to sit back in our leather armchairs and read another climate change and health paper in the NEJM over a glass of wine.

It’s NOT enough to rely on the CMA, the AMA, the BMS, the AAP, the CPS, or any other such professional medical organization to speak for us. And it’s CERTAINLY not enough to assume someone else will DO something. They probably won’t.

How do we get ourselves on the path from VAA #1 to VAA#2? From Vaguely Anxious Apathy to Very Audacious Action? The first step is to admit our apathy. The next step is to recognize yet another “acronym”:

AAAA

Which means:

ACTION 

is the best 

ANTIDOTE 

to ANXIOUS APATHY.

And finally, we need to JUST START. Personally. Professionally. And Politically. If you aren’t sure what to do, ASK someone you know who is already doing something. There’s bound to be a climate warrior in your neighbourhood.