Question:
Introduction to Environment
What is good health?
List the component of environment and
explain discussing the relationship between environment and good health
Remedies
Summary
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The term environment implies all the external factors
living and non-living, materials and non-materials-which surround man. in its
modern concept, environment includes not only the water, air and soil that form
our environment but also the social and economic conditions under which we
live.
For descriptive purpose, environment
has been divided into three components, all closely related.
(i) Physical:
Water, air, soil, housing wasters, radiation etc.
(ii) Biological:
Plant and animal life including bacteria viruses, insect rodents and
animals.
(iii) Social:
customs, culture, habits, income occupation, religion etc.
The key to mans health lies largely
in his environment. In fact, much of man’s ill-health can be traced to adverse
environmental factors such as water pollution, soil pollution air pollution,
poor housing conditions, presence of animal reservoirs and insect vectors of
diseases which pose a constant threat to man’s health often, man is responsible
for the pollution of his environment
through urbanization industrialization and other human activities. In 1972 the
UN conference on the human environment focused worldwide attention on the
environmental hazards that threaten human beings. To facilitate work in this
area, world health organization has complied a wide-reigning survey of
environmental hazards to human health.
GOOD HEALTH
1.2 Health:
according to world health organization (WHO) it is a state of complete
physical, mental and social well being and not merely an absence of disease or
infirmity.
In recent years, this statement has
been amplified, to include the ability productive life”.
The world health organization
definition of health has been criticized as being too broad. Some argue that
health cannot be defined as a “stat” at all, but must be seen as a process of
continuous adjustment to the changing demands of living and of the changing
meanings we give to life. It is a dynamic concept, it helps people live well,
work well, and enjoy themselves. The world health organization definition of
health is therefore considered by many as an goal than a realistic proposition.
It refers to a situation that may exist in some individuals but not in everyone
all the time; it is not usually observed in groups of human beings and in
communities. Some consider it irrelevant to everyday demands, as nobody
qualifies as healthy, that is perfect biological, psychological and social
functioning. i.e. if we accept the world health organization definition, we are
all sick.
Environmental Health: It can be defined as the control of all factors in
man’s physical environment which exercises or may exercises a deleterious
effects on his physical development, health or survival. It include the aspect
of human health, like quality of life, which is determined by physical,
biological, chemical, social and physiological factor’s in the environment. It
is an organized community efforts that monitors the relationship between man
and his environment in order to achieve a better healthy living.
2.1 THE
COMPONENT OF ENVIRONMENT
i. Physical environment (Abiotic)
ii. Biological environment (Biotic
iii. Social and occupational environment
1. THE
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT (ABIOTIC)
The physical component of the
environment is the concrete setting, on which man creates the basis for his
life and his activities on the plant earth. It consists of the non-living
components of the environment and includes the air, land water, housing,
radiation etc.
Gupta and Maliajan (2005) man depends
on the physical environment for survival and on the other hands; the physical
environment determines the distribution of animals, insects and other living
things on earth. Man interacts with his physical environment and the result of
his interactions can produce positive or negative effects. His positive
interact-interaction with the physical environment gives him good health, while
his negative interactions expose him to infections or accidents.
2. BIOLOGICAL
ENVIRONMENT (BIOTIC)
This comprises of the living components of the
environment and can be grouped into flora (plants) fauna (animals) and
micro-organisms Omodu (2005).
This aspect of the total environment is also dependent
on the physical environment as the types of plants and animals found in region
depends on the characteristics of the air, water, food, temperature and light
present.
Living things must survive and as a result, need to
feed. The need for survival leads to struggle among them in the environment.
There are inter-relationships and inter-dependence in man’s interaction with
these other living things in the environment and the effects of these
relationships can also be positive or negative for example, a bacterium serve
some useful purposes to man in the areas of fermentation, decomposition of
refuse and organic matters etc. but also causes disease in man when it enters
the human body.
3. SOCIAL
AND OCCUPATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
The social
environment borders on the behaviour of man in the society and how his
behviours affect his life and the life of others. It is often referred to as
man-made environment. It denotes the complex of psychosocial factors
influencing the health of the individuals and the community. This environment
is unique to man and includes cultural values, customs, habits, beliefs,
attitudes, morals, religion, education income, standard of living community
life and the social and political organization Pak (2007).
In quest for survival man has
engaged himself in various occupation in order to realize his comfort. It has
been discovered that in man’s place of work, he is surrounded with an airway of
materials, substances including “people”. His relationship with these and other
factors in his work place has positive or negative impact on his health, and
that of others around him.
It is therefore important that all
those factors that posses danger to man are controlled to enable him harvest
from the beneficial ones.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENT AND
GOOD HEALTH
Environment been our surrounding that is the compound
of man. Hence the enteraction between man and it environment cannot be over
emphasized.
Good health depend mainly on the environment of man,
over thousands of disease has been implicated or incriminated in our
environment most of disease the man which occur as a result of improper banding
of our physical environment include the following:
-
Malaria
-
Typhoid
-
Filiariasis
-
Cholera
-
Worm disease etc.
However the relationship between government and good
health can be seen in two ways.
1. Positive aspect and
2. negative aspect
POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOOD
HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT: This can be
traced on how nature works. For instance our environment, we have plant and
animals takes in carbondioxide (co2). This means that nature has
exchange of gases occurred in a normal environment. But the process can be
happened by the activities of man which can be either unnecessary deforestation
or burning and even the industrialization.
Above all environment is not
naturally n a negative relationship with good health but it is man that turns
the environment into an enemy while in search of good live.
NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOOD
HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
In physical environment the negative relationship
between good health and environment emanate from poor maintenance of the
environment by man. environment management has be described as a systematic and
logical approach in manipulating environment resources in such away that it can
be prudently used with sense of equity and quality. Man bring problem back to himself
in quest to sustain his life from using the environment and as such the
environment that is ordinarily supposed to be his good friend turn out to be
his enemy by brining out pathogenic organism, which bring about ill health.
The following are some example of diseases that can be
affected with good health as a result of poor environment.
- Malaria:
The dumping of refuse in gutter leads to the blockage of drainage system and
there by bring mosquitoes around our surrounding.
ii. Allowing unwanted plant (weed) to grow
around our environment (house)
- Typhoid
(i) Improper disposal of excreta around the environment.
(ii) Dumping of refuse close to our houses
which can encourage breeding of house mechanical to our food.
Therefore, there are many disease which
can affect good health that emanated from the environment.
Remedies
For environment to be in good relationship with
health, the following should be put in to consideration.
-
Housing
-
Water
-
Soil
-
Waste
-
Air
HOUSING
For a house to be built, it should be able to meet the
sanitary requirement as it is stipulated in the public health law cap 103
section vi and vii there should be enforcement in housing regulation to ensure
that people stop constituting public nuisance in the name of house.
WATER
Water is said to be life one can not do without it
according to world health organization (WHO) a person nee about lites of water
per day.
About 80% of disease are contaminated through water,
and as such effect need to be taken into consideration.
To ensure good health as it is relate to water the
following should be done:
REMEDIES
-
Portable water
-
Apply of quantify
and quality of water to the public.
-
Treatment of
water before useage
-
Avoid drinking
water from shallow well and other surface water like streams, river etc.
-
There should be
regulation on package water production to ensure that people don’t buy
pathogenic organism in form of water (sachet water)
-
Each house hold
should have filter for domestic water treatment.
SOIL
Soil is the top layer of the earth in which plants,
trees grows on etc.
-
Avoid deposition
of toxic note on the soil (pstrollsom product)
WASTE
Waste is a term has many definitions according to the
perceptions of both environmentalists and environmental experts. It could be
regarded as anything that is worthless, useless and discardable materials.
REMEDY
-
To prevent spread
of disease
-
To eliminate
health hazards
-
To prevent soil
degradation.
AIR
Air
is a gaseous mixture which make up the atmospheric surrounding of the earth. It
consist of approximately 78% nitrogen, 20%, 20%, oxygen, 0.04% canborivoxide
etc.
REMEDIES
-
Air quality
monitoring
-
Air
purification.
Summary
Most peoples consider it common knowledge a bad
environment affects one’s health whiles good environment promotes health however,
his common sense is not translated in policy. In some case the link between
environment and health is disputed, but even in those cases where it is not,
policy action is limited. Many policy discuss create situations, which are
hazardous to the health of million people. Health is an important cross cutting
issues touching upon the activities of all other working groups.
Few environmentalist considered running a three part
series about he connection between good health and environment. The places
looked at, where we live access to wholesome water and fresh food, physical,
biological and social activities and finally in how health awareness can be
part of what we learn at school.
Paul Mattessich, executive director of wilder research
says dramatically that an individual who leaves in an unhealthy environment
dies, five, seven, eight years sooner than an individual that leaves in a
healthy environment, and this is cause by differences in environment
constituents and factors. These are some factors that indicates good health in
an environment income community learners, education, avbolity of wholesome
water and fresh food and exercise the these stated, all linked to healthy
living of an individual in a certain environment (conducive environment).
However, environment have a great link or relationship
with health as we get sick so as well as environment gets sick. Bacteria, virus
and other infection inrobes infects man by transmitting diseases that enhances
unbalanced health. We pollutes the environment by releasing toxic and harmful
substances and materials in the environment which will lead to environment
pollution which does not encourage good health.
In other words the fact stipulated above is being
regarded as the opposite to the relationship between health (good health) and
environment in a positive manner.