Environmental Health Lecture Notes PDF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Dr. Bashier Eltayeb Ahmed MBBS, MCM  Environment is the sum of all external influences and conditions affecting life and development of an organism including man. Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their nonliving e...

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Dr. Bashier Eltayeb Ahmed MBBS, MCM  Environment is the sum of all external influences and conditions affecting life and development of an organism including man. Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their nonliving environment of energy and matter such as sunlight, air, water, and soil (Miller, G.Tyler, 1993). Categories of environment(1) Natural environment: – Soil, air, water Man-made environment: – Food, Home, Medical care, Hospital 17 October 3 2021 Categories of environment(2): Biotic environment: – Man, plant , animal and other microorganism. Abiotic environment: – Water, air and other physical resources. 17 October 4 2021  The term environment implies all the external factors –living and non-living, material and non-material - which surround man. According to ecologists, health is a state of dynamic equilibrium between man and his environment and when this equilibrium is disturbed, ill-health (disease) occurs.  For descriptive purpose, environment has been divided into three components, all closely related : (i) Physical (ii) Biologic (iii) Social  Physical environment: These are water, air, soil, housing, radiation, light, noise, vibration, refuse, wastes, etc. Biological environment: These are plants, animals, rodents, insects and microbes like bacteriae, viruses, rickettsiae, parasites, fungi, etc. Social environment: Customs, culture, habits, income, occupation, religion  The key to man's health lies largely in his environment. In fact, much of man's ill-health can be traced to adverse environmental factors such as water pollution, soil pollution, air pollution, poor housing conditions, presence of animal reservoirs and insect vectors of diseases which pose a constant threat to man's health.  13.7 of deaths per year in 2016, amounting to 24% of the global deaths, are due to modifiable environmental risks. This means that almost 1 in 4 of total global deaths are linked to environment conditions. THANK YOU 16