Environmental Health Indicators - How do they Help?
When environmental conditions are detrimental to human health, the consequences can be alarming. From cancer clusters to chronic respiratory diseases, the impacts are more than noticeable with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that 24% of global deaths are linked to modifiable environmental risks.
Supporting an environment that is conducive to human health is a top priority in the efforts to combat climate change and its effects, as well as eliminating deaths caused by preventable factors. Environmental health indicators serve a necessary role in this process, so what exactly are they, and how are they used?
What are the Indicators?
Environmental risk indicators are broad and include air quality, chemical safety, occupational hazards, and access to clean water and sanitation. The causes of these risks are complex, as is the process of solving them, but the indicators serve as a method to describe the effects of the environment on human health to better inform decision making. By establishing what these indicators are, countries have a benchmark for identifying and prioritizing the greatest threats to human health posed by the environment.
Certain environmental factors have been recognized as being prerequisites for good health, and should be prioritized in development:
Clean air, stable climate
Adequate water
Sanitation and hygiene
Safe use of chemicals
Protection from radiation
Healthy and safe workplaces
Sound agricultural practices
Health-supportive cities and built environments
Preserved nature
Where are they Most Noticeable?
Environmental health indicators have played an important role in identifying inequalities across the population. For example, these indicators were used to look into inequalities in access to basic drinking water across Europe and helped demonstrate the gap between urban and rural areas. In addition, these indicators have helped recognize sections of the population most likely to be exposed to these environmental risks, with WHO identifying single parent households living in poverty being 3 times more likely to experience heating problems in the winter.
With this kind of information however, infrastructure and development can be deployed in a more effective manner. Ensuring equitable environmental health is necessary to see that climate change is effectively managed, and that the most vulnerable populations are protected.
Improving Environmental Health
Negative effects caused by poor environmental health have led to greater cooperation between countries as the effects of poor environmental management are felt across borders. Worldwide efforts have resulted in massive environmental success stories such as globally phasing out leaded gasoline, banning the use of chemicals which caused the hole in the ozone layer, and improving air and water quality in the industrialized world.
Environmental health indicators serve an important role in identifying health issues caused by environmental conditions. When poorly managed, the environment can have an extremely detrimental effect on people's health. While there has been great progress over the years to solve many global environmental issues, more work is needed to completely eradicate environmental health risks.
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