ENVIRONMENT THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH

Environment Threat to Public Health

Environment Threat to Public Health

Introduction

Need a watch

The Institute of Veille Sanitaire (INVS), a public institution of the State placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, brings together the missions monitoring, vigilance and alert in all areas public health. These missions have a perspective support the government decision and support the development and evaluation of policies for the protection of health and prevention risks. The field of environmental health is broad. In 2000, Environmental Health Department (FSD) of INVS prioritized environmental issues to guide its strategy in terms surveillance. This first work had not only remained internally allowed to justify and reinforce the actions developed but also to respond appropriately when referrals on topics Unsuccessful at first but the importance of health public had been so recognized. However, other issues had not been identified as priorities, limiting the possibilities appropriate responses; the heat wave of 2003 is the clearest proof obvious. It is thus the need emerged to complement the work on priorities, implementing a watch to identify, categorize and prioritize all environmental threats in purposes of anticipation. This theme was reinforced during a meeting Scientific Council INVS devoted to anticipating threats, including environmental threats. INVS then decided to conduct the process involving many partners institutional and private to foster a broader analysis. (Jackson, 1992, 1227) After a call for tender, the company Envirotec HPC was mandated to this study census and identification of threats environmental public health under the responsibility of INVS and a scientific steering committee.

Environment

At the outset, the environment was considered in its broadest extent possible, that is to say that integrates everything in its class exogenous factor to humans. This premise has been asked to be able to not miss sectors and themes of exposure situations importance. It seemed preferable, if any, restriction in during approach the field of reflection rather than the reverse. (Hertz, 2003: 46)

Environmental threat

Initially, an environmental threat has been defined the following formulation: "an environmental threat is defined as any agent (physical, chemical or biological) in the environment, natural or man, leading to acute or chronic likely to cause deleterious effects on potential or actual human health. The events giving rise to exposure are Also included in the definition. "We will see in the results that this definition has evolved by incorporating the concept Event or exposure situation more accurately. Environmental threats can also be understood by expected degree of anticipation. In other words, should we consider threats to a horizon of 5-10 years, 30 years or 50 years ... It has not been proposed prior restraint on a possible horizon preferred. That is why the definition does not appear in the notion of time scale. (Harrington, 2002, 191)

Social dimension of the threat Environmental

An environmental threat has a double dimension, both objective and subjective, which basically stained with more or less intensity, apprehension both individual and collectively. Hence a definition based on the notion of situation or ...