[Eco-health: shared perspectives on primary care practice].

Abstract

Eco-health is an integrative approach aimed at improving human health while preserving ecosystems, in the context of environmental and climate change with major health consequences. Part of the «One Health» framework, it's based on a systemic view of the interactions between human, animal, environmental, and social health, and promotes actions that have co-benefits for both health and the environment. Primary care plays a strategic role in the implementation of eco-health. It's an essential lever for the transition to a sustainable health system due to its long-term proximity to the population. The eco-health approach in primary care is based mainly on three areas: prevention and health promotion, the relevance of care, and the eco-design of clinical and organizational practices. These actions, based on the principle of co-benefits, simultaneously reduce the environmental footprint of care and improve its quality. Eco-health thus appears to be an operational and ethical way to strengthen the sustainability of the healthcare system in the face of contemporary public health and environmental challenges.