BY HAFU GEBREZGABIHER
For the last couple of years the government of Ethiopia has been aggressively engaged in the plantation of various species of trees across the country. In the last two rounds of plantation seasons, the government has mobilized the entire people of the country to plant about nine billion tree seedlings. This year too, the country is already prepared to plant as much seedlings.
This is such a large number of trees that it can significantly affect the environment and ecosystem of the country as well as the neighboring countries. Hence it can be taken as an important step forward in enhancing the positive impacts of the environment and ecosystem in the region. Among the benefits of the safe environment and ecosystem is its positive impact in ensuring public health. As a result it comes as an area where countries of the region can build up on through collaboration.
The Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries also provides an opportunity for information-sharing and dialogue on transboundary issues, support for training on transboundary planning on health and climate change, as well as regular dissemination of information on financial resources available to address transboundary environmental health concerns.
Across the world, ministries of environment and natural resources and/or environmental protection, agencies have different mandates and missions but many of them focus on the protection of the environment with the goal of protecting public health. Environmental health practitioners monitor food safety from farm to table; are responsible for vector and vermin monitoring and control; and monitor microbial and chemical pollution of the land, water, and air. Natural resource managers monitor ecosystems and landscapes and the creatures that occupy them.
They often see trends in the natural world before they are seen in the urban world. For example, unusual wildlife morbidity and mortality can indicate presence of pathogenic or toxic agents that could potentially be detrimental to human health. The environment sector is a valuable contributor in the promotion of population “health and well-being, particularly in “health security, efforts to prevent and prepare for endemic, epidemic and pandemic threats.The links between biodiversity, ecosystems, and public, health are well documented in recent publications (e.g WHO-CBD State of Knowledge Review on Biodiversity and Human Health 2015; WHO Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). These links range from ecosystem services that contribute to human health—provision of food, water, and medicines—to pollution remediation and pathogen regulation.
Conducting risk assessments for known and novel disease presence and/or introduction establishment, based on species range and ecological niche, behavior, and inter-species allover potential.Environmental authorities may also detect and monitor diseases in wildlife that do not pose a direct threat to humans. However, even non-zoonotic diseases may have implications for the health and functioning of ecosystems in ways that can indirectly affect humans.
Despite enormous social and economic gains since the mid-20th century, modern development has been characterized by excessive consumption patterns and rapid and unplanned urbanization, causing ecosystem loss, climate change and social inequities. The speed and intensity of environmental degradation has brought many unforeseen consequences for life and health, now and in the future.
People living and working in polluted environments are the most affected. They face multiple risk factors, including a lack of safe water and sanitation, exposure to hazardous chemicals, uncontrolled waste generation and disposal, air pollution and displacement from extreme climatic conditions.
With the global endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the agreement at the twenty-first session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris (the “Paris Agreement”) in 2015, awareness is higher than ever. There is an urgent need for policy and action to protect and prevent further deterioration of the ecosystems on which our health and well-being rely. In particular, major cities in the Region must play their part in implementing the global temperature increase cap of 1.5°C from the Paris Agreement.
Expertise and infrastructure from environmental, services are valuable components of health security and should be included in national processes to maximize protection of theprotection of the public’s health.
The acceleration in human activity since 1950 has resulted in a “changing planet” characterized by unpredictable and extreme weather, rising sea levels, diminished harvests, droughts and floods, species depletion and unpredictable disease vector behaviour.
Destabilization of the ecology has occurred at a speed and intensity that has many unforeseen consequences for life and health. Environmental determinants of health are responsible for more than a quarter of the burden of disease in the Western Pacific Region.
Communicable and noncommunicable disease, disability and death result from a lack of safe water and sanitation, indoor and outdoor air pollution, hazardous chemicals, occupational hazards and climate-related disasters. The Western Pacific Regional Framework for Health and Environment on a Changing Planet intends to relaunch the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Health and the Environment programme and fulfil its mandate in the area of environmental health. It proposes to leverage the health sector focus on the Sustainable Development Goals process, providing guidance for prioritizing the work of WHO in support of Member States improving health outcomes through action on environmental determinants.
It articulates entry points for health and environment priority actions in WHO country cooperation strategies, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and other mechanisms for international collaboration, and notably with the United Nations Environment Programme and ministries of environment. The framework also sets a course for the health sector to advocate adaptive measures, policies and action to protect health and well-being as a co-benefit of interventions in energy, agriculture, transport, housing and other spheres. Four groupings of actions, or “strategic actions”, are proposed for environmental health programmes in Member States and for WHO. Strategic action 1 is “Enhancing governance and leadership for stronger environmental health capacity”.
Acknowledging the wide variance in institutional arrangements from country to country, a case is made for emboldening national and local programmes to reach out beyond the traditional silos of environmental health – with particular focus on the role of cities and municipal jurisdictions – across sectors, to develop capacity and improve information systems and surveillance in order to address current challenges and arrest emerging ones, and ultimately fulfil the SDGs.
The leadership of the sector is foreseen in terms of greening health-care facilities and ensuring they have 100per cent access to safe water and sanitation. Strategic action 2, “Building networks, coalitions and alliances”, concerns the need for the health sector to develop new skills to work with a wide range of stakeholders that can influence policy and enable action. Proposed measures are intensified engagement in the Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries, identifying allies and strategies for information-sharing and establishing networks to scale up green health-care facilities.
The Ethiopian Herald July 9/2021
