Mizan -Tepi University

College of Medicine and Health Sciences

Introduction To
Environmental Health

2021
 Chapter One

Introduction To Environmental
Health
 Course objectives

• Course description: this course is designed for

Health science students
– To have in-depth understanding of environmental
factors that affect health
– To have prepare better strategies to prevent diseases
transmission.
• General Objectives: At the end of the course
the student will be able to:
– Explain the role of environmental factors in disease
prevention & health promotion
– Design appropriate strategies to prevent disease
transmission
 Specific Objectives
– Define environments health, explain concepts ,scope
and role of environmental health
– Describe water born diseases
– Describe liquid waste disposal and methods of solid
waste disposal system
– Explain food born diseases and food hygiene based
on different food varieties
– Describe rodents and apply control methods of
rodents
– Explain housing and health institution health aspects
– Describe safe working environment
– Describe human ecology
 Unit Objectives

 At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

– Understand the basic concepts in environmental
health
– Explain the different environmental hazards which
potentially affect health, life and growth
– Explain the role of environmental health in public
health
– Differentiate the scope of environmental health
 1. Definition Of Terms

• Environment - The circumstances, objects, or

conditions by which one is surrounded

• “Environment is the sum of all external influences

and conditions which affect health, life, and
growth.
– This includes the physical, biological, chemical, and
psycho-social environment”
• Public health concept- all at which out of external
individual human host.
 Defn cont.…….
 Health:
 “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, social and
spiritual well-being and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity. (WHO, 1948)

 In recent years the statement is amplified to include,

“The ability to lead a socially and economically
productive life.”

 Holistic concept of health:

 This concept recognizes the strength of social, economic,
political and environmental influences on human health
 Defn cont.…….

• Environmental health refers to the theory and practice of

assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing those factors
in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the
health of present and future generations. (WHO Definition of
Environmental Health)

Or
• Environmental Health is “the control of all those factors in
man’s physical environment which exercises or may exercise
a deleterious effect on his physical, mental, and social well
being.”
 Defn cont.…….
Other definitions of envt’al health……

 It is the application of environmental sciences and

engineering principles to the control, modification ,or
adaptation of physical ,chemical and biological factors of
the environment in the interest of man’s health ,comfort and
social well-being.

 It is deals with the prevention of disease and promotion of

health by eliminating or controlling the environmental
factors ,which form links in disease transmission.

 Key phrases in all definitions are environmental factors

and potentially affect health.
 Environmental factors
• Environmental factors/conditions sometimes called
hazards are those aspects which potentially affect
health, life and growth.
Epidemiological triangle
 Table - Different environmental hazards and their effects
A. Biological hazards D. Psychological hazards: include low
 Include Animals, insect vectors, Micro- payment, Poverty, lack of social services,
organisms, vegetation:
lack of privacy, traffic. Etc.
-Mainly causes diseases like viral, bacterial,
 They causes stress, boredom, anxiety,
protozoal, helminthic, fungal, food poisoning,
poisoning by animal bites, and Allergens depression and etc

B. Chemical hazards: they can be organic and E. Sociological hazards: include

inorganic substances: they are systematic poisons & overcrowding, Isolation, Discrimination, Etc.
toxins, teratogenic, Carcinogenic,
Mutagenic ,irritant etc.

C. Physical hazards: include radiation, vibration, dust,

light, humidity, air velocity, forces, heat, equipments, noise,
air pressure, etc:

 They causes diseases, skin and material damages,

cancer and etc
 Hazards cont.…..
• The biological hazard is most common
prevalent in our country causing high morbidity,
mortality, and disabilities.

• Chemical pollution is on the rise since both

domestic and industrial effluents are often
injected directly to natural water bodies without
any treatment.
 Defn cont.…….

• Sanitation is “the establishment of environmental

conditions favorable to health. Or It is the
prevention of diseases by eliminating or
controlling the environmental factors which form
links in the chain transmission.” (WHO).

– This definition can be equally applied to Environmental

sanitation.
– Sanitation in Latin means ‘sanitas’ meaning ‘health’.
Hygiene and sanitation are often interchangeably used.
 2. Historical Background Of Env’tal Health

• Hygiene and sanitation have a long history at various levels of human

civilization.
– We can roughly divide the historical events into two periods: the ancient and the
modern.

A. Prehistoric And Ancient Civilization

• Prehistoric times: Mose’s law for human waste disposal;
– ለመጸዳጃ የሚሆንህን ቦታ ከሰፈር ውጭ አዘጋጅ…….. (ዘዳ 23፤ 12)

• Spiritual/religion leaders: Prophet Mohammed his law of personal hygiene;

– Explained in Quran

• Sewage and water lines known in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Athens, and
Rome civilization;
• Schistosomiasis in ancient Egypt;
 Historical cont.….
B. Modern times
• Edwin Chadwick in 1842 and later Fredrich Engels in 1844 wrote a
historic report on “The sanitary conditions of the laboring population
in Great Britain”.

• John Snow a British Physician documented in 1954 that cholera is

caused by the drinking polluted water from the then Broad Street
pump in London.

• Louis Pasteur in the 2nd half of 19 century developed the germ theory
of disease transmission;
 Historical cont.….

• Mid 19th century improvement of sanitation, housing,

nutrition, etc., in some countries have contributed to the
decline of communicable diseases and decrease of
mortality rates (the period of industrial revolution)

• After 2nd world War: new events: antibiotics, vaccines

development; and creation of WHO in April 7, 1948;
 3. Role of Environmental Health in community

I. Three basic strategies:

A. Promotion: targeted to behavioural changes mainly through

housing improvement, basic sanitary provisions, etc…

B. Prevention of communicable diseases before it happens: safe

water, safe food, latrine provisions, personal hygiene, proper solid

waste management, vector control, etc.

C. Control: of communicable diseases through various

environmental interventions. /providing a healthy environment/

 Role cont.…..

II. Factors essential for the transmission of

communicable diseases
1. Etiologic agent
2. Source of the infection (reservoir)
3. A mode of escape from the reservoir
4. A mode of transmission to the new host
5. A mode of entry of the new host
6. A susceptible person
 Role cont.…..
• How environmental health achieve the mentioned
strategies (e.g. diarrheal disease)
• Therefore, to the stop the spread of communicable
disease the chain can be broken by one of the following
means:
 Attacking the agent
 Protecting the host or
 Changing the environment
 Role cont.…..
1. If aim is at the agent the most common practices are
• Sterilization – ( the process of killing all
microorganism including spores) through heat and
irradiation
• Disinfection – (the application of chemicals to
materials ,which come in to contact with or are ingested
by humans ,for the purpose of killing pathogenic
microorganisms)
 Role cont.…..
 Through:

 Alcohols

 Halogens (Chlorine, Iodine)

 Phenols (carbolic acid)

 Surfactants(soaps and detergents)

2. If the approach is to protect the host

– Personal hygiene

– Immunization

– Nutrition

– Isolation
 Role cont.…..

3. If the approach is to break the disease chain is aimed

at environment

• Environmental manipulation/ management

 4. Scope Of Environmental Health
key scope/components of environmental health and their concerns
No Description Concerns

1 Personal hygiene Hygiene of body and clothing

2 Water supply Adequacy, safety (chemical, bacteriological, physical) for domestic,

drinking, and recreational use

3 Human waste disposal Proper latrine facilities & liquid waste management

4 Solid waste management Proper application of generation, collection, transportation, treatment and
disposal system

5 Vector control Control of disease transmitting and harmful arthropods and animals

6 Food hygiene Food safety and wholesomeness in its production, storage, preparation,
distribution, sale, until consumption
 Components cont.…..

7
Occupational Occupational health service, sanitation, safety in working
hygiene settings

8
Housing sanitation Physiological needs, protection against disease and
accidents, psychological, and social comforts in residential
and recreational areas

9
Institutional Communal hygiene in schools, prisons, health facilities,
hygiene refugee camp, Detention homes, Settlement areas

10
Radiation hygiene Protection of workers and the community from internal and
external radiation
 Components cont.…..
11 Hygiene and Hygiene provisions in international ports: air, train,
quarantine service bus

12 Disinfection and Control of disease causing organisms in omits,

sterilization utensils, equipment, foods, etc.

13 Specialized field Mental hygiene, oral hygiene, adolescent hygiene

14 Air pollution Nature of atmosphere, pollution sources, global

warming, etc.
 Group Discussion

• Discuss in group

How ??
 Man can affect the environment
 Man can be affected by the environment
 Man can maintain environmentally good relationship
Human-Environment Interaction Model
 5. Human Interaction With The Environment

1. Man can affect the environment:

• In a natural state, earth’s life forms live in equilibrium
with their environment.

• Increased human population generate huge amount of

waste product and released in to the biosphere which have
upset the equilibrium.

• Deforestation, fire, air pollution, noise pollution, waste

dumping, radiation pollution, etc. are some of the effect of
man on the environment.
– This is due to human activities for land search, industrialization,
urbanization, population explosion, migration, war, etc.
 Human vs. environment….
2. Man can be affected by the environment:
• The various human activities that heavily polluted
water, air and soil could exert an equally negative
impact on the health, the aesthetic and cultural
pleasures and the economic opportunities of
humans.

• For instance, flooding, draught, famine, disease,

earthquakes, lighting etc. are some of the effect of
environment on human because of the various
disturbances in the environment.
 Human vs. environment….
3. Man can maintain environmentally good
relationship:
• Through
– Afforestation
– Sustainable development
– Green chemistry
– Green economy
– Cleaner production
– Pollution reduction ( prevention hierarchy)
– International conventions, legislations on
environment, etc. man can maintain a good
relationship with the environment.
 Rational of Environmental health for Ethiopia
(source :DHS 2016)
 Environmental health facts
 64.8% of households obtain their drinking water from an un
improved source
 35.2% households used drinking water from an un
improved source
 91% do not treat their drinking water
 6% of households use an improved latrine facility
 52.2% use Pit latrine without slab/open pit
 32.3% households practice open defecation
 It is fact that more than 80% of health problems in developing
countries is due to lack of safe water and basic sanitation
 Thus Environmental health is a Key to achieve Promotion,
Prevention and Control communicable diseases
02/21/2025 Yohannis F. 33
Let’s save
the
Environment!
 Quiz -1 (5%)
1. Define the following terms
A. Environment
B. Health
C. Environmental health

2. Briefly discuss the different environmental

hazards

3. Discuss the role of environmental health for

the community