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Can we envision a society in which everyone has access to food, clean water, and air? Are our economies emphasized on our overall wellbeing and health? Are the cities with current environmental health conditions liveable? Do people have control over their own and their planet's health?
It's high time to draw attention to the critical actions required to maintain human and environmental health in the wake of a pandemic era, a polluted planet, and rising rates of diseases like cancer, asthma, and heart disease. Establishing societies that prioritize well-being is the call of time. According to WHO estimates, preventable environmental causes account for over 13 million deaths globally annually. This includes the climate crisis, which is currently the largest threat to human health. Let’s learn more about the effect of this environmental change on our health, especially on this World Health Day.
We are in close contact with nature through the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. This connection exposes us to a variety of substances and chemicals. Our health is being affected in a number of ways by these factors. Pollution of the water, air, and soil can have a major negative impact on the health of humans, animals, plants, and the whole planet. Risk of numerous non-infectious diseases, such as cancer and respiratory disorders, are significantly enhanced by environmental degradation.
Antimicrobial-resistant genes are more likely to arise and proliferate in the environment as a result of biological and chemical contaminants.
According to estimates from the World Health Organization, environmental factors contributed to 12.6 million deaths globally in 2012, or 23% of all deaths; 90% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income nations. A number of interconnected global crises, including pollution, improper handling of chemicals and waste, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and climate change, have a detrimental effect on human and animal health.
Events like extreme weather and floods are direct health hazards brought on by environmental degradation. It is a major cause of non-communicable diseases, and it also plays a role in infectious diseases and other negative consequences that affect the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems.
1. Urbanization: Because of the quick changes in the environment brought about by urbanization and industrialization, environmental health has become a significant part of overall healthcare. The importance of environmental factors in human health and their connections to numerous infectious and chronic diseases are becoming more widely acknowledged. Heart disease and respiratory illnesses are killing more people than ever before, and a number of illnesses, including cholera, dengue, malaria, and chikungunya, are found to be highly climate-sensitive.
2. Poor hygiene: The burden of various diseases is rising in developing nations like India as a result of changing environmental conditions. An estimated 94% of the burden of diarrheal disease can be linked to environmental factors, including contaminated food and water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene.
3. Solid fuels: In a similar manner, there is compelling evidence in India that the use of solid fuels in homes contributes to indoor air pollution and high risk of lower respiratory tract infections. Environmental factors account for nearly 42 percent of acute lower respiratory tract infections in developing nations. In addition, a strong correlation between environmental factors and diseases carried by vectors has been demonstrated. In addition, a number of significant ecological and environmental factors, including deforestation, rising vehicle traffic, rural-to-urban migration, declining water resources, and inadequate drainage systems, are linked to the development of various infectious diseases.
4. Water pollution: It is brought on by environmental changes and represents yet another significant threat to the planet's health. When harmful materials are released into the water, it pollutes the water and makes it unfit for human consumption. Water pollution is the result of adding more substances to the water than it can naturally dissolve.
5. Chemical contamination: It results in diseases like fluorosis and methemoglobinemia, is another facet of waterborne illnesses.
6. Ozone: One of the main secondary pollutants in photochemical smog is ozone. It is both an oxidant and a lung irritant. It might have seriously detrimental effects on people's health. Ozone exposure results in decreased lung function, airway hyperreactivity, and inflammation. Exposure to ozone causes wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing. Ozone also has a local and systemic impact on the immune system, damages mucous membranes, and induces lung inflammation. Individuals who have underlying respiratory conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are more vulnerable to the negative effects of ozone. Elevated levels of ozone have been associated with a rise in hospitalizations for asthma, COPD, and pneumonia.
7. E-waste: It is garbage produced from outdated electronics and home appliances. It consists of a broad variety of items that users discard, including computers, cell phones, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, personal stereos, and consumer electronics, all of which fall into the "hazardous" and "non-hazardous" categories. The last ten years have seen a sharp increase in the amount of pollution caused by electrical and electronic waste because of the steady rise in electronics production, the dearth of appropriate disposal facilities in India, and the dumping of e-waste from developed nations. The presence of various toxic substances such as copper, aluminum, silver, gold, platinum, palladium, and others in e-waste can pose a threat to human health and the environment.
8. Heavy metals: Lead is one of the heavy metals that can cause hypertension, kidney failure, and neurological symptoms. Liver and kidney toxicity, as well as damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, can result from mercury poisoning.
Following are the tips that can help you to take individual actions against degrading environment:
The substantial severe and long-term effects that environmental and climatic changes have on human health should be widely known in the population. People must know the causes behind both infectious and non-infectious diseases. Thus, for integrated vertical and horizontal planning, scientists, public health experts, administrators, and citizens must work closely together.This World Health Day, let's all commit to taking individual actions to protect our environment and ensure a healthier future for ourselves and the planet.
Q1: Why is it vital that people have access to clean water and air?
A: Healthy brain and body function, growth, and development are supported by clean air and water. Both the environment and human health can be harmed by air pollutants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ground-level ozone, fine particulate matter, and greenhouse gasses.
Q2: Why is it important to breathe clean air?
A: Inhaling clean air can reduce the risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and both acute and chronic respiratory conditions like asthma.
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