Vision Statement on Environment and Health
The purpose of vision document was to evolve a strategy of health-risk reduction arising from environment pollution would help the implementing agencies to revise the environmental and industry specific actions. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had constituted a Committee on Environment and Health in July, 1999 and the report was submitted in May, 2000. The Report of the “Committee on Environment and Health” brought out issues requiring attention of various stakeholders. The “Conference on Environmental Health” organized by Ministry of Environment and Forests in November, 2002 also brought out thrust areas and action points that need to be implemented for protection of public health.
The environment in which we live greatly influences our health. The household, workplace, outdoor and indoor environments may pose risks to health in a number of different ways. The poor quality of air which we may breathe, the contaminated water we may drink and the surroundings in which we live, determine our quality of life. While the genetic factors may also be responsible for causing diseases but the environmental factors play much more active role in contracting various diseases. The key purpose of this Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health is to evolve a strategy for health risk reduction. It also offers a comprehensive approach to the environmental health management plans, which would be a systematic approach to estimate the burden of disease and injury due to different environmental pollutants. Therefore, the activities and programmes required to be taken up for the protection of the public health due to environmental pollution are also given in this statement in the form of a road map.
