What is Environmental Health ?
It is the branch of public health that focuses on the interrelationships between people and their environment, promotes human health and well-being, and to develop healthy and safe communities. As a key component of a comprehensive public health system, environmental health works to advance policies and programs to minimize exposures in air, water, soil, food and other environmental media. It aims at to protect inhabitants and provide safe communities with healthier environments.
Our Role
The Environmental health unit of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine is responsible for two major programmes under Environmental Health.
- National Healthcare waste management programme of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine
- National Water Quality programme of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine
The unit handles health related issues in the following areas
- Solid waste management
- Bio diversity
The unit handles health related issues in the following areas together with the occupational health unit due to significant overlap between environmental and occupational health fields.
- Climate change
- Air pollution
Functions of the Unit
- Develop strategic plans to achieve the strategic objectives of the programmes under environmental health
- Advocate the policy makers and stakeholders at central & provincial level on the importance of improving environmental health
- Intra and inter sectoral coordination on multidisciplinary issues related to environmental health
- Conduct operational research on environmental health issues
- Capacity building of health and non health officers on environmental health
- Provide technical expertise on environmental health in matters related to intra and inter sectoral planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluating of various programs/ activities at different levels
- Monitoring and evaluation of programmes and activities under environmental health carried out by the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine
- Develop communication material pertaining to environmental health