Environmental and Occupational Health Issues in Public Health

The Philippines, being a tropical country and exposed to a large amount of rain yearly, experiences a lot of flooding across the country. The high water concentration can lead to a higher risk for  leptospirosis  and dengue. Over the course of one year, the number of leptospirosis cases has risen from 206 in 2017 to 1,121 as of August 12 of this year. That is a 444% increase. There has been a need for significant improvements in garbage collections schemes and flood control programs to address the flooding concerns. These improvements are also believed to address the breeding places of rats and mosquitoes, which are the two main carriers of leptospirosis and dengue, respectively. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1022732/doh-warns-of-flood-borne-diseases

Knowing the age of the home helps us determine if certain materials were used in the making of it. These materials, like lead-based paint and pipes, are potential health hazards to the people living in the house.  If there is someone living in the basement, they could be exposed to moisture, molds, radon, and carbon monoxide. Having the furnace or other combustion appliances located in the basement can increase the risk of carbon monoxide exposure.  It is the homeowners’ responsibility to address any home-based environmental health risks that they find within the house. They should be the ones who reach out to professionals who can test for lead and radon. They must also be proactive in the choices they make in terms of pesticides and air fresheners used, and food consumed. It is also their responsibility to make sure smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are present and functional, and that they have a plan of action should an emergency happen. As for where I am living now, i...

Professor Sattler said it best at the end of class when she mentioned that all of us know something about environmental health issues. While there were some issues that were foreign to some of us, there were several issues that everyone was aware of. I had many a-ha/duh moments when discussing several exposures. One of these was that concern of fires happening in the country. I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about fires, and I tend to focus on the destruction they cause. It then hits me that it is, of course, a public health concern because it worsens the air quality. This poor air quality can even be found miles away from where the fire was. There are a myriad of things and events that don’t cross our minds as potentially harmful to our health in the environment that we should pay more attention to.