Environmental Health Concerns of WHO

Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social and psychosocial factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing correcting, controlling and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations.

(World Health Organization, 1993)

The Global Health Agenda as outlined in the WHO Eleventh General Programme of Work 2006-2015 has outlined a need for Environmental Health promotion under one of its seven priority areas, which is written as “Tackling the determinants of health”. It mentions that the health determinants are imperative to improve the health of the world’s most vulnerable people and reducing health inequalities. It has also outlined that the environment related health problems, as follows, need careful tacking through incorporation of various cross-cutting efforts which quite often goes beyond the influence of ministry of health;

-          living conditions with poor housing and overcrowding, inadequate sanitary facilities, and challenging communicable and vector-borne diseases

-          unhealthy lifestyles and nutrition transition that needs massive behavior change campaigns

-          growing urbanization, unhealthy work environment, and air pollution,

-          complexities with food safety and security, food habits and healthy diet; and threatened water supplies, and

-          climate change and its adverse impacts with extreme climatic behaviors, and need for preparedness to its mitigation and adaptation

In accordance with the Global Health Agenda, WHO’s priorities in Eleventh General Programme of Work 2006-2015, has equally focused for Environmental Health, and has elaborated it under one of its priorities namely  “ Providing support to countries in moving to universal coverage with effective public health interventions”, which is designed to include clusters such as communicable and non-communicable disease prevention and control; sexual and reproductive health; infant, child, adolescent and maternal health and the health of older persons; environment-related health problems, and effective response in terms of crisis; and research.

WHO South East Asia Regional Committee’s Sixty-first Session in September 2008 to be held in SEARO, New Delhi will propose and discuss a regional initiative on environment and health as follows;

Action by Member States:

1.            increase financial resources for better environmental health;

2.            develop/update NEHAPs, including emerging environmental health issues;

3.            promote active participation of the private sector and of NGOs in environmental health programmes and compile success stories;

4.            promote healthy public policies; and

5.            collaborate with technical working groups of the regional ministerial forum for environment and health

Action by WHO/SEARO

1.            Assist Member Countries in the review of NEHAPs

2.            Support Member Countries to identify, address environmental factors and mitigate the adverse health effects

3.            support research to assess risk factors and health impacts of global warming and climate change; and

4.            Provide technical support and capacity building for health impact assessments, on strategies for healthy public policies and on the sound management of hazardous substances, including health care wastes.

Public Health and Environment Health Topics