The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland

News Release – 4 August 2006

‘Environmental Health has world importance’ - WHO

The World Health Organisation’s recent report highlights the work of EHOs: ‘Preventing disease through healthy environments – towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease’. It is the most comprehensive research conducted to-date on environmental hazards linking 85 categories of disease and injury with their environmental links to health. It has revealed disturbing statistics and consequently a challenge to all Environmental Health Officers in Scotland and around the globe.

As much as a quarterof global disease and one third of disease in children under 5 is caused by preventable environmental exposures. The research has focused on environmental hazards allowing us to see where preventative health measures teamed with environmental management and clean-up can make a huge impact.

Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) play a key role in preventing ill health and injury, for example working in the areas of food safety, housing conditions, water quality and environmental tobacco smoke. As multi tasking public health professionals EHOs are qualified and competent:-

  • to assess situations where the physical environment may impact on public health
  • to implement the appropriate intervention strategy to protect and improve public health, this may result in enforcement action when required
  • to engage with, educate and give pertinent ‘on site’ advice to businesses, the general public and a wide range of other organisations.

The environmental factors which EHOs work to minimise/eliminate correlate with the causes of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) biggest killers: cardiovascular disease; diarrhoeal disease; lower respiratory infections; cancers; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, unintentional injuries.

These diseases cause a phenomenal annual health burden, in terms of death, illness and disability. The WHO has listed these below in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs: the sum of years of potential life lost due to premature mortality and the years of productive life lost due to disability):

  • Diarrhoea (58 million DALYs per year; 94% of the diarrhoeal burden of disease) largely from unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene
  • Lower respiratory infections (37 million DALYs per year; 41% of all cases globally) largely from air pollution, indoor and outdoor.
  • Unintentional injuries other than road traffic injuries (21 million DALYs per year; 44 % of all cases globally), classification which includes a wide range of industrial and workplace accidents.
  • Malaria (19 million DALYs per year; 42% of all cases globally), largely as a result of poor water resource, housing and land use management which fails to curb vector populations effectively.
  • Road traffic injuries (15 million DALYs per year; 40% of all cases globally), largely as a result of poor urban design or poor environmental design of transport systems.
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) -- a slowly progressing disease characterized by a gradual loss of lung function. (COPD, 12 million DALYs per year; 42% of all cases globally) largely as a result of exposures to workplace dusts and fumes and other forms of indoor and outdoor air pollution.
  • Perinatal conditions (11 million DALYs per year; 11% of all cases globally).

REHIS welcomes this research which highlights the vital contribution that EHOs across the world can make towards improving health.

The areas of work that EHOs in Scotlandare routinely involved in are:-

  • Public Health – joint working with partner agencies, outbreak control teams, port health, health promotion, private water supplies, pest control, bereavement services, animal welfare, swimming pools.
  • Food Safety - premises inspections, food sampling, investigation of food poisoning or food/waterborne disease.
  • Food Standards – inspections of premises and processes, composition and labelling visits, import/export controls.
  • Built Environment - HMO licensing, houses below tolerable standard, grants, landlord’s registration, caravans, environmental assessment.
  • Occupational Health and Safety - workplace inspections, accident investigations, complaints.
  • Pollution Control - air quality monitoring, anti-social domestic noise complaints, commercial noise nuisance surveys, contaminated land, working with Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Waste Management - waste collection, littering offences, abandoned vehicles, recycling, sewage treatment, working with other environment bodies.

The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland represents environmental, community and public health professionals within local government, health services, commerce and industry throughout Scotland. With headquarters in Edinburgh, REHIS provides an important voice and forum for environmental health issues, and plays a vital role in the advancement of health, hygiene and safety.

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