Environment And Public Health: A Direct Link

It is globally acknowledged that a link between the environment and public health exists. This topic has grown to be so important that various world organizations hold annual, international meetings for scientists to gather and discuss the latest research findings, breakthroughs, issues, and technology. Some of these organizations are as follows:

• World Health Organization (WHO)
• The Paris Appeal International Congress
• The International Federation of Environmental Health’s Congress

In this assignment, you will gain a better idea of where scientific research is headed by reviewing the published abstracts presented at such meetings.

Begin this assignment by searching the Internet for the most recent gathering of one of the organizations listed above. You may also search for another major organization that is currently focused on global health and the environment.

Once you locate your organization and the meeting (often called a Congress) of interest, find the published program for that meeting. Do note that this may take a few clicks. However, every organization always publishes a list of talks presented at the meeting somewhere on its Web site.

Find a topic that interests you and address the following questions based on this selected example:

• Cite the example you have selected and describe it. Include the title of the presentation, the authors, and a synopsis of their research and what they found.
• Explain how the example you found relates to the environment and public health—both directly and indirectly.
• Identify the geographical areas or countries where you see this particular environmental issue as a threat to public health and support your findings with evidence-based research.
• State whether or not you think some countries are more affected by this issue than others. If so, provide at least one example and support this finding with evidence-based research.
• Identify the processes that are currently in place that aim to address these issues affecting public health. State whether these processes focus on the environmental issue or the resulting public health issues.
• Consider how you would approach the issue if you were given the task to improve or mitigate it—whether it is related to the environment or public health. Briefly describe your short- and long-term improvement or mitigation plans.

Write your initial response in approximately 350 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

By Saturday, February 16, 2013, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, February 20, 2013, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses. Consider the following:

• How important do you feel their topic is to where you live?
• Is this a problem that will affect your family’s health? If so, how?
• Would you consider your peers’ solutions to be feasible and practical? Explain why or why not.

Grading Criteria and Rubric

All discussion assignments in this course will be graded using a rubric. Download the discussion rubric and carefully read it to understand the expectations.