World Environmental Health Day addresses all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviours. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 24% of global deaths are linked to the environment, which is roughly 13.7 million deaths per year.
World Environmental Health Day 2020, under the theme Environmental Health, a key public health intervention in Disease pandemic prevention, highlights how Environmental Health Practitioners have a vital role to play in disease pandemics all over the world. Vulnerable population, especially those living in poverty, young children, women, the elderly, and people with pre-existing diseases, are susceptible to new or exacerbated health threats resulting from climate change.
Key to the implementation of disease preventive measures is the Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP). EHPs are playing a vital role since the initial response to the outbreak of disease pandemics all over the world. EHPs play a role in disaster preparedness and response, investigate outbreaks of infectious diseases, and prevent it from spreading any further.
Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) can play an important role in helping communities adapt to climate change health impacts, however, effective coordination of this requires further understanding of their roles in implementing climate change-related adaptation actions in communities.
Some examples of the most recent infectious diseases outbreaks, besides COVID-19, according to the WHO worldwide are Ebola, Cholera, HINI flu pandemic, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Meningitis.
COVID-19 affected 216 countries all over the world. On 30 January 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Global Public Health Emergency. On 11 March 2020, the WHO
declared COVID-19 disease a global pandemic. The outbreak of this COVID-19 disease, has caused serious devastation, loss of life and economic hardship in the lives of people
all over the world.
Therefore, it is important that highly skilled EHPs must face up to the challenges that this COVID-19 disease pandemic is posing and do everything possible to protect communities.
We encourage members to celebrate World Environmental Health Day.
World Environmental Health Day Poster 2020 (327 KB)
