Η σχέση της προστασίας του Περιβάλλοντος με τη Δημόσια Υγεία: προκλήσεις και τρόποι αντιμετώπισής τους

Abstract

A healthy environment plays important role in good human health, but today the environment due to human activities, faces enormous challenges, such as global population growth, overdevelopment, resource depletion, urbanization. Challenges lead to increased environmental health risks such as air pollution, all kinds of radiation, water and soil pollution, climate change. According to International Organizations Reports, environmental hazards negatively affect health indicators (decrease in life expectancy, increase in life years with "disability", increase in mortality). In the present work, the aim is to create a list of environmental factors that adversely affect Public Health, their sources, the corresponding effects on human health and the development of proposals to address environmental risks. For this purpose, a literature review was carried out at reports from international organizations (eg WHO, EEA, UN, FAO) and government agencies. The results showed that there is a lack of data on common environmental hazards such as noise pollution but also emerging ones, such as drugs in rivers. In order to address the environmental risks that threaten Public Health, it is proposed to redesign the public policy and implement a 5-year comprehensive holistic action plan. The use of tools by the Public Administration, such as the list of environmental factors, helps in making rational decisions. The main axes of the proposed Action Plan are to promote research and development on environmental health, to take measures to eliminate or reduce the disease burden attributable to modifiable environmental factors (contributes to the discharge of the Health System and the reduction of the expenses) to evaluate and monitor these actions, to raise the awareness of citizens and the younger generation on environmental protection issues and on issues related to the inextricable link between environment and Public Health.