NSG 309 Environmental Health Overview

Meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, by rationally managing natural resources.

All living things, including plants, animals, microorganisms, and disease-causing agents.

The environment shaped by human interactions, including beliefs, norms, values and traditions.

Actions that harm the environment, leading to problems such as desertification, deforestation and species extinction.

Negative effects on human health from activities like farming, mining and industrial pollution.

A large population exceeding the carrying capacity of an area, causing environmental problems.

Uncontrolled discarding of harmful substances, impacting air, soil and water quality.

Farming methods that harm the environment, such as sole cropping and the overuse of chemicals.

Detectable and measurable hazards using microbiological or biological techniques.

Numerous and complex hazards found in workplaces, measurable using laboratory techniques.

Hardest hazards to detect and measure; ill-defined factors related to people.

A physical hazard.

A physical hazard.

A type of biological hazard, including bacteria and viruses.

A type of chemical hazard.

A socio-cultural hazard.

Illness caused by consuming contaminated food with harmful bacteria, viruses, or parasites.

A type of bacteria that can cause food poisoning, often found in milk and dairy products.

Serious food poisoning caused by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, often found in improperly canned foods.

A parasitic infection caused by giardia, often spread through contaminated water.

A viral infection that affects the liver, often spread through contaminated food.

A bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhoea, often spread through contaminated water.

A type of bacteria that can cause food poisoning, often found in seafood.

A bacterial infection that causes diarrhoea, often spread through contaminated food.

Specialized services provided at district, division, and zonal levels, following referral from primary care.

Highly specialized care offered by university teaching hospitals and specialist hospitals (e.g., orthopedic, eye, infectious disease).

Measurements used to assess the health of a community or country, often in relation to environmental quality.

The number of births per 1,000 people in a population per year.

The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population per year.

The number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births.

The average number of years a newborn infant is expected to live if current mortality trends continue.

Measurements of environmental degradation, like air, water, and soil pollution.

The pathways through which environmental hazards reach humans, including air, water, soil, food, and objects.

The presence of harmful substances (pollutants) in the air exceeding safe levels, impacting human health and the environment.

Contamination of water sources with hazardous substances, making it unsuitable for drinking, bathing, or other uses.

Water safe for drinking, free of harmful pathogens and chemicals, tasteless, odorless, and colorless.

Low oxygen levels in the blood, leading to rapid death if prolonged.

Inanimate objects that can transmit disease-causing agents.

The workplace and its specific hazards, impacting worker health.

A parasitic disease caused by the Onchocerca volvulus worm, transmitted through the bite of black flies. Also known as river blindness, it can cause severe vision loss and blindness.

The areas where black flies lay their eggs, usually fast-flowing rivers or streams. These are crucial for controlling the spread of onchocerciasis.

A medication used to treat and prevent onchocerciasis. Taken orally, it kills the worms causing the disease.

A strategy to treat a large number of people in a community simultaneously with medication like Mectinzan, aiming to reduce the prevalence of onchocerciasis.

Illnesses transmitted through contaminated water, such as cholera, typhoid fever, and giardiasis. They can spread through contaminated drinking water, sewage, or contact with infected water sources.

Illnesses caused directly or indirectly by improper waste disposal (refuse, sewage, dust). These include diseases like typhoid, dysentery, and respiratory illnesses.

Preventive strategies targeting a single disease, using methods specific to that illness. Examples include vaccination programs for diseases like polio or measles.

Preventive strategies targeting a group of diseases with similar transmission pathways. Examples include measures to control water-borne diseases or diseases spread by insects.