Children are particularly vulnerable to certain environmental risks, including: air pollution; inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene; hazardous chemicals and waste, radiation; climate change; as well as emerging threats like e-waste.
Environment, Climate Change and Health
We pursue a healthier environment by strengthening health sector leadership, building mechanisms for political and social support and monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals regarding environmental threats to health.
Settings & populations
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Credits
Introduction and purpose
The department of Environment, Climate Change and Health has four primary settings and populations in which it focuses its work. These are:
- Air quality and health, which focuses on addressing key risks to health from air pollution and promoting interventions and policies to reduce household and ambient air pollution;
- Children’s environmental health is focused on the special vulnerabilities of children to particular environmental risks including air pollution, climate change, e-waste, endocrine disrupting chemicals and hazardous chemicals, among others; and dedicated solutions.
- Workers, which is dedicated to providing occupational health and safety measures to ensure a healthy workforce; and
- Workplaces, which focuses on ensuring healthy, safe and resilient workplaces, protecting workers and ensuring that they have access to productive work while protecting their safety ad well-being.
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AQH promotes interventions and initiatives for healthy sectoral policies (including energy, transport, housing, urban development and electrification of health care facilities), addressing key risks to health from air pollution indoors and outdoors, and contributing to achieving health co-benefits from climate change mitigation policies.
Providing occupational health and safety measures for protecting health workers and is also fundamental for well-functioning and resilient health systems, quality of care and maintaining a productive health workforce
Healthy, safe and resilient workplaces are places where all people can perform their jobs: without getting sick or injured because of their work; with opportunities to enhance their physical and mental health and social wellbeing; while preserving harmony with nature and being protected in case of disaster in the community.
Publications
15 August 2021
Health economic assessment tool (HEAT) for walking and for cycling: methods and user guide on physical...
This methodology and user guide will be of key interest to professionals at both national and local levels: transport planners, traffic engineers, and...
This report summarizes the latest scientific knowledge on the links between informal e-waste recycling activities and health outcomes in children. As many...
This report summarizes the latest scientific knowledge on the links between exposure to air pollution and adverse health effects in children. It is...
Children are exposed to many different environments that have a profound influence on their growth and development. Environmental exposures, both adverse...
Some 26% of childhood deaths and 25% of the total disease burden in children under five were attributed to environmental exposures in 2012. This estimate...
Resources
Facts
