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What is the main mode of transmission of diseases from rodents to humans?
What is the primary goal of the Ministry of Environment in Egypt?
What is the role of physicians in environmental health?
What are biological agents, according to the content?
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Study Notes
Environmental Health
- Environmental health is the science and art of identifying, assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing exposures in the environment that may potentially harm human health.
- It encompasses physical, chemical, biological, and mechanical aspects that affect human health.
Importance of Studying Environmental Health
- The environment is an important determinant of health.
- Environmentally-induced ill-health is controllable and preventable.
- Healthier environments could prevent almost one quarter of the global burden of disease.
Goals Related to Environmental Health
- Goal 2: Zero Hunger
- Goal 3: Good Health & Well-being
- Goal 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 14: Life Below Water
- Goal 15: Life On Land
Epidemiological Triad
- Environmental hazards: factors or conditions in the environment that may be harmful to human health upon exposure.
- Types of environmental hazards: physical, chemical, biological, mechanical, and psychosocial.
Effect of Environmental Hazards on Individual Health
- The effect of an environmental hazard on individual health is influenced by several factors:
- Dose (how much?)
- Duration (how long?)
- Exposure route (inhalation, ingestion, etc.?)
- Personal traits (age, genetics, health status, gender, etc.)
- Acute/cumulative effect
Environmental Risk Assessment
- It is a formalized process for characterizing and estimating the magnitude of harm resulting from some exposures.
- Objective: to provide objective information to inform public policy decisions.
Objectives of Environmental Risk Assessment
- Maintenance of health and safety of the general population and health & safety of specific exposure groups as workers.
- Formulating threshold limit values of exposure to various hazardous agents.
Sanitation
- The idea of environmental sanitation gained momentum with the demonstration by John Snow that the spread of Cholera was "feco-oral".
- Environmental sanitation is the control of all factors in man's physical environment that exercise a deleterious effect on his physical development, health, and survival.
Components of Environmental Sanitation
- Town planning
- Housing
- Air sanitation
- Water sanitation
- Waste disposal
- Food sanitation
- Vector and rodent control
Town Planning
- Putting a general plan and design for any city, town, or district before being established.
Housing
- Not only the physical structure providing shelter but also the immediate surroundings and related community services and facilities.
Air
- The immediate environment of man, comprising air on which depends all forms of life.
- Many diseases can spread to people directly through handling of rodents; contact with rodent feces, urine, or saliva.
Bioterrorism
- Biological and toxin weapons that can cause disease and death in humans, animals, or plants.
- Examples: anthrax, botulinum toxin, and plague.
- Spread through spraying into the air, person-to-person contact, infecting animals that carry the disease to humans, and by contaminating food and water.
Environmental Law in Egypt
- The Egyptian Environment Affairs Agency (EEAA) → Ministry of Environment.
- Focuses on defining environmental policies, setting priorities, and implementing initiatives within a context of sustainable development.
Role of Physicians Regarding Environmental Health
- Recognition of environmental problems
- Assessment of magnitude of risk
- Identifying agencies responsible for implementing preventive actions
- Undertaking corrective measures as feasible
- Continuous monitoring
- Health education to the public and decision-makers
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Description
Learn about the importance of environmental health, its role in determining human health, and how it affects present and future generations.
