Towards a healthier environment
Environmentalists today must be very optimistic to observe the World Health Day 2022. This is because all governments across the world shall like to thoroughly explore all aspects of development programmes that must be environmentally friendly. In my country, India, there has been a substantial progress to control Malaria, Filariasis, food quality. These have been possible due to strategies directing environment control. Various laws, governmental policies and international agencies are helping for the cause.
Public health demands of the people are not only maternal and child care or nutrition needs, Environmental well-being is now considered a greater challenge since the past 20 years. More people than ever die due to air pollution.
Protecting nature to prevent natural harm from, and, more than man-made disasters that climate change has brought about, is the new agenda for all countries. Environment is not only a cleaner home, clean air to breathe in, clean water to drink and hygienic food to eat, but at all times, and in combination can have a positive epigenetic impact on our health. Our genes are representing the blueprint of our future self but unhealthy surroundings can destroy even a healthy genetic make-up. Also, certain exposures like genetically modified food or pollutants like volatile organic solvents due to technology, may alter our genetic constitution leading to diseases like cancer, obesity, infertility or pregnancy losses and more.
Further, what a fetus is exposed to in womb at any given time of pregnancy may lead to a poor programming of the infant’s health. Any breach of environmental exposure may need reprogramming through nutrition, physical activity, rehabilitation and medicines, that may worsen the already compromised health of the baby. Meticulous pregnancy planning includes healthy environmental exposures early in the life of the baby. It is like couples giving up tobacco smoking and other illicit drugs when pregnant.
Therefore, I want to emphasize here the Precautionary Principle that was coined in Germany in 1970's. It implies that we are supposed to prevent or remove and avoid the destruction we are causing our environment, accordingly on a daily basis. We must reduce the burden we are becoming on our Planet and future generations. We can calculate our ecological footprints and start avoiding unnecessary wastage of fuel, use clean energy, prevent open waste incineration, reduce using plastics, treating chimneys with smoke filters in the outlets, recycling of waste waters, and drink clean water and not waste it and appropriate management of domestic and industrial wastes and so on.
About healthy environmental technologies there are many researches like solar energy, built environment, hygiene and sanitation in factories and homes but mostly we must become proactive. Home-made products, simple living with healthy kitchen ingredients, no wastage of fuel and electricity are a few measures that we must practice judiciously to prevent environmental crisis in future and control the rising Earth’s temperature because of human activity. What and how you can do to control pollution of environment and resource depletion remains in your hands and one can be creative about it. Cleansing and minimizing starts from a resolve within. Cleansing is in our approach towards our environment. Our behavior should be environmentally healthy. Don’t we teach primary school children to use dustbins, plant trees?
Therefore, the bottom line is “Our Planet, Our Health” towards which the precautionary principle must be imbibed. This principle applies to all sectors-factories, schools, households, market places. We must abstain from causing harm to the environment, think and legalize and environmentalize each project to construct and maintain factories, buildings, residential areas, parks, transport and much more.
A proactive stakeholder who can be a common man can find faults and take action for any deviance of health in the environment. We have the Clean India Mission for which not many are participants. I would share an anecdote- During a survey for my qualitative analysis of the environment in a temple city of India, a woman responded in her interview that she is concerned only about the temple deity and her prayers, the surroundings don’t matter to her. It might be so and her devotion promotes her emotional and spiritual health, but it becomes difficult to bring about the environmental cult with so many ignorant people who do not want the deity to be located in a cleaner, greener and pollution free environment, to enhance emotions and clean environmental convenience to visitors for a truly majestic experience.
People overlook environmental hygiene and sanitation because they think it is costly. Once all sectors, stakeholders understand the precautionary principle, cost effective clean methods can be introduced with effective participation by the people. We should expect cleanliness and consequent well-being in all possible locations that we dwell.
The cost of living rises with environmental health can become a myth and inverse association can happen by properly educating people to participate in maintaining healthy surroundings. We all must contribute towards environmentally healthier countries, starting at least from today.
