Environmental pollution and public health: The socio-economic analysis of the global drivers of change

Environment and health are inextricably interlinked. The physical environment, such as drinking water, sanitation, housing, and air, has considerable effects on the health status and well being of people. Environmental change and its attendant health impacts are driven by many factors, including economic growth, population growth and movements. The three broad trends — the intensification of agriculture, industrialization, and rising energy use — which stand out in terms of their profound impacts on the physical environment and their enormous potential for influencing human health. Rapid urbanization and the uncontrolled growth of urban slums are now creating a double environmental health burden for the urban poor. In India, premature death and illness due to major environmental health risks accounts for nearly 20 percent of the total burden of disease in India. Proper environmental management is the key to avoiding the quarter of all preventable illnesses which are directly caused by environmental factors. There is an immediate need to tackle environmental health issues. Problems such as unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene, and air pollution are major contributors to the worldwide disease burden.