How a Bad Environment Affects Children's Health
By Dr. César Chelala
November 20,
2018 "Information
Clearing House"
- Millions of
children die every year as a result of
environment-related diseases. Their deaths
could be prevented by using low-cost and
sustainable tools and strategies for
improving the environment. In some
countries, more than one-third of the
disease burden could be prevented by
environmental changes.
According to a World Health Organization
(WHO) study carried out in 23 countries,
more than 10 percent of deaths are due to
unsafe water and indoor air pollution,
particularly from solid fuel used for
cooking. On a mission for the Pan American
Health Organization in Panama, to assess and
document the effect of pesticides on
children’s health, I was able to see the
negative effects of pesticides in the
environment and on the soil on children’s
well-being.
Children make up almost half the population
of developing countries. Most of the deaths
are among children under five and are
attributable mainly to intestinal and
respiratory infections. People living in
industrialized countries are also affected
by environmental factors such as pollution,
occupational factors, ultraviolet radiation,
and climate and ecosystem changes.
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The integrity of the global
environment is being increasingly
compromised by the deterioration of the
atmospheric ozone layer and an ever-higher
concentration of gases responsible for the
greenhouse effect. To the degree that these
factors intensify, the health of populations
will be seriously affected.
Environmental factors affect children's
health from the time of conception and
intra-uterine development through infancy
and adolescence. These factors can even
exert an influence prior to conception since
both ovules and sperm can be damaged by
radiation and chemical contaminants.
It has been widely demonstrated that
children are more susceptible than adults to
environmental factors because, among other
reasons, they are still growing and their
immune systems and detoxification mechanisms
are not yet fully developed.
Interventions both at the community and the
national level can significantly improve the
environment, including the promotion of
safe-water treatment and storage, and the
reduction of air pollution. The last measure
by itself could save almost a million lives
a year.
A series of measures being taken at the
local level are having a significant impact
on improving the environment. For example,
in an overcrowded and unsanitary inner-city
building housing several hundred people in
South Africa, conventional environmental
health control measures had failed. So, a
democratically elected tenants committee
initiated a series of measures to deal with
the main problems affecting the building and
its inhabitants. This project has laid the
foundation for a participatory way of
dealing with environmental problems in
inner-city buildings.
In Cairo, Egypt, Dr. Laila Iskandar Kamel
has implemented innovative social and
environmental projects working with garbage
collectors or Zabbaleen. These projects have
helped garbage collectors break the cycle of
exploitation and receive proper compensation
for their work. In addition, she has
organized girls from the community in
reviving the most ancient of Egyptian
crafts, weaving on a handloom using
discarded cotton remnants and using the
profits for improving their education and
providing them with a livelihood.
In Qatar, fewer natural resources, climate
change and the quality of the air are
serious challenges faced by the authorities.
The Ministry of Environment has taken a
series of measures to improve the
environment. Among those measures, creating
awareness in the population, particularly
among the mothers, is an important task. At
the same time, a new school curriculum has
been completed, placing emphasis on
environmental issues.
In the countries in the Americas, an
outstanding series of environmental
activities are carried out by Ecoclubs,
nongovernmental organizations made up
basically of children and adolescents who
coordinate their activities through several
community institutions.
In Ecuador, the city of Loja was afflicted
with dumping yards in inhabited areas, which
led to outbreaks of infections and
contagious diseases. Through an intensive
sensitization and education campaign in
which community members played a key role in
establishing a sanitary landfill and a means
for properly disposing of recyclable
materials, there was a manifest improvement
in the quality of life for Loja residents.
Children, in particular, increased their
awareness about the environment and their
role in improving it. The planning, design,
monitoring, and management of the physical
environment have proven to be an ideal
terrain for children's inputs and
participation.
Such initiatives are taking place worldwide
with the aim of improving the environment
and, as a result, people's health. More
actions should be carried out in the main
cities worldwide to protect all people, but
particularly the most vulnerable. To curb
pollution is expensive. More expensive,
however, is the price paid in children’s
lives.
Dr. César Chelala is an international public health consultant, co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award and two national journalism awards from Argentina.
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