Session: Water and the Environment: Affecting Health Across Borders

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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

3221.0: Monday, November 06, 2006: 12:30 PM-2:00 PM

Oral

Water and the Environment: Affecting Health Across Borders

How significant is the impact of environment on health? The recently published WHO Report on Environmental Health found that an estimated 24% of the global disease burden and 23% of all deaths can be attributed to environmental factors. This session will describe the health impact of a variety of environmental hazards in the international arena, such as unsafe water, heavy metals and pesticides, and strategic approaches for addressing them, including mitigation of exposure, education, preventive practices, policy changes and working across sectors for resolution of environmental health problems. Beginning in Thailand, the first presentation explores the significance of assessing the particular exposure of women farmers and the need to educate females in farmer households on prevention of pesticide poisoning. Moving to prevention of diarrheal disease resulting from unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and hygiene, the second presenter discusses the use of consumer research for designing handwashing promotion programs in multiple countries that are both culturally relevant and more effective in changing behavior. A presentation on environmental contamination in Peru by a U.S. based mining corporation explores the implications for health and policy change in a globalized world. The final presentation looks at the importance of working across sectors to resolve problems such as those described in the session, and provides a model for cross-sectoral work utilizing a case study on water and health from Ethiopia. In closing, the session will summarize lessons learned, opportunities and challenges for the future in addressing complex environmental health problems in international settings.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to: 1. Describe the procedures for assessing environmental exposures and the particular risk for selected populations (e.g. women farmers, children under 5). 2. Articulate the procedure for using consumer research to identify the key motivators and barriers to handwashing behavior change in different cultures. 3. Describe how findings from international environmental health investigations can inform policy decisions for protecting public health. 4. List three ways to promote cross sectoral health work.

Moderator(s):

Merri Weinger, MPH

12:30 PM

Pesticide Exposures among Women Farmers in Mae Wang, Thailand