2023-09-26 03:47:33
This anniversary highlights the importance of our environment in health (Freepik)
World Environmental Health Day is commemorated every September 26. This date, which has been recognized since 2011, was an initiative promoted by the International Federation on Environmental Health (IFEH).
But what exactly is environmental health? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as that domain that addresses the aspects of human health influenced by environmental factors, whether physical, chemical and biological, among others. And, surprisingly, problems such as air, water and soil pollution, or even exposure to chemicals and ultraviolet radiation, can be responsible for various diseases or injuries.
“Environmental health is one of the most important fields within public health because of the countless ways that external forces can affect the way people eat, live, and grow. These may have to do with our natural environment (as in the case of drinking water or sanitation), but they can also be a consequence of the actions of human beings,” they point out from the IFEH.
Environmental public health refers to the intersection between the environment and health, addressing factors that influence human health (Getty)
While, in parallel, they emphasize that “the last decade was the hottest in human history and we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, with forest fires, floods and hurricanes becoming regular events that threaten lives, livelihoods. and food security. Climate change also affects the survival of microbes, facilitating the spread of viruses and expanding the range of vectors. If no action is taken, pandemics are likely to occur more frequently, spread more quickly, have a greater economic impact, and kill more people.”
Meanwhile, according to the WHO, the role of environmental public health is fundamental, “which refers to the intersection between the environment and public health, addresses the environmental factors that influence human health, and which include physical, chemical and and biological, and all behaviors related to these. Together, these conditions are called environmental determinants of health.
“Threats to any of these determinants can have adverse effects on health and well-being across the population. Addressing environmental determinants of health directly improves the health of populations. Indirectly, it also improves productivity and increases the enjoyment of the consumption of goods and services not related to health,” the WHO points out.
External aspects, from drinking water to sanitation, affect how people eat, live and grow (Getty)
In that tone, they also report that approximately “28 million people lack access to an improved water source, 83 million people lack access to improved sanitation facilities, 15.6 million still practice open defecation, causing regarding 30,000 preventable deaths per year.”
“On the other hand, chemical risks, such as exposure to toxic pesticides, lead and mercury, tend to disproportionately affect children and pregnant women; while exposure to toxic chemicals can lead to chronic and often irreversible health disorders, such as congenital and neurodevelopmental defects and diseases associated with endocrine disruption,” they highlighted.
Not for nothing, in 2023, within the framework of the World Health Assembly held in Geneva (Switzerland), the WHO made an “urgent call” to take action once morest climate change.
In 2023, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusse, made an urgent call to take action once morest climate change, highlighting its impact on health (Europa Press)
“The most pressing reasons to take urgent climate action are not the impacts in the future, but right now, on health. The climate crisis is a health crisis, which fuels outbreaks, contributes to increasing rates of non-communicable diseases and threatens to overwhelm our health personnel and our health infrastructure,” warned the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In that intervention, he detailed the measures that would have to be taken, such as reducing carbon emissions; create “better, more climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable” health systems; and “protect health from the wide range of impacts of climate change. We need renewable energy in healthcare facilities; specific financing for the health sector aimed at climate resilience; and greater use of reliable, cheap and green electricity.”
In this regard, the WHO warned that climate change is “increasing non-communicable diseases and facilitating the emergence and spread of infectious diseases.” In addition, he highlighted that climate-related factors “increasingly impact the health and well-being of the population of the Region of the Americas because they disturb global physical, biological and ecological systems. Health effects may include increased respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, injuries and premature deaths related to extreme weather events, food insecurity and air pollution, threats to mental health and changes in patterns of transmission of vector-borne diseases.
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