IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FOR NIGERIANS

Preventing or reducing the risk of illness, injury or disease in the community is essential to good environmental health. An important way to achieve this is by improving the quality of people’s surroundings.

Government and community environmental health programs aim to improve public health in a number of key areas. In areas requiring attention; which  includes
1. Efficient Emergency Mgt Strategy (EEMS),

2. Public Health Laws implementation & Enforcement Strategies(PHLIES),

3. Natural Disasters Prediction
&  Mgt Strategy(NDPMS)

4. Portable Water Supply: water source(s) Inspection,  monitoring & evaluation....

5. Increased developmental
Health services for  urban areas and communities. etc.

6. Reliable Health (Records) Statistics

Examples of Environmental Health Risks(EHR):-

Environmental health covers many different factors in a person’s surroundings. These can include:

Air pollution – for example, soote, firewood smoke etc...

Water quality – for example, Grey water, tank water, fluoridation and drought.

Food quality – for example, Food Contamination and Nutrition.

Chemicals – for example, pesticides, farm chemicals,
Arsenic and CCA treated timber.

Metals – for example, exposure to lead, mercury and cadmium.

Diseases from animals and insects (vector borne) – for example, dengue fever, hendra virus, lyssavirus, Ross River fever and malaria.

Infectious diseases – for example, viral infections like swine flu.

Natural hazards & Disasters– for example, solar radiation and extreme weather events etc

Man-made structures – for example, exposure to asbestos or electromagnetic radiation sources like mobile phones.

Occupational health – for example, safety issues relating to the workplace such as noise pollution and hazardous waste.

Climate change – for example, higher sea levels, increased soil salinity and increased temperatures etc

It must be remembered always by all, especially, professionals in Environmental Health, that  Environmental health risks refers to factors outside of the body that can affect wellbeing or behaviour of individuals or the community at large.These may include the quality of  air, food and water supply people are exposed to and/or their exposures to hazardous materials.

Preventing or reducing the risks of illness, injury or disease in the community is essential to good environmental health practice .