This document provides an overview of a university course on the impact of climate change on public health and mitigation policies. It includes the course topics, structure, and content. The course covers the relationship between health and the environment from a public health perspective. It examines how environmental factors like air quality, water quality, and occupational exposures impact public health. It also discusses approaches to address environmental health issues, including risk assessment and management, policies and regulations, and monitoring of hazards. For homework, students are asked to research an environmental health topic in their country and present on it in the next class.

1. Unit 5. Impact of
climate change on
Public Health and
mitigation policies
Course: Sustainable health
Adrian Hugo Aginagalde Llorente

2. Topics & calendar
• Topic 1. Health and environment, an approach from
public health
Monday 13th - Wednesday 15th
• Topic 2. Public health in the face of climate change:
extreme temperatures, water quality, air quality,
food-borne and vector-borne diseases
Monday 20th - Wednesday 22nd
• Topic 3. Policies for adaptation to climate change
Monday 27th - Wednesday 29th
• Topic 4. Strategies to mitigate the impact on health
Monday 4th - Monday 11th
• Evaluation
Wednesday 13th

3. Class
estructure
Each Unit
• First class: key concepts
• Homework: exercise (+
Reading)
• Second class: sharing
exercise + review

4. 5.1. Health and environment, an
approach from public health
Unit 5. Impact of climate change on Public Health and mitigation
policies

5. Class scheme
I. Introduction
• A. Overview of the link between health and environment
• B. Importance of a public health approach to understanding environmental impacts on health
II. The Relationship between Health and Environment
• A. Definition and understanding of public health
• B. Key determinants of health and their environmental implications
III. Impact of Environmental Factors on Public Health
• A. Air quality and respiratory health
• B. Waterborne diseases and water quality
• C. Chemical exposures and their health effects
• D. Occupational health and environmental risks in the workplace
IV. Public Health Approaches to Environmental Health Issues
• A. Risk assessment and management
• B. Environmental health policies and regulations
• C. Surveillance and monitoring of environmental hazards

6. I. Introduction
A. Overview of the link between health and environment
B. Importance of a public health approach to understanding environmental impacts on health

7. I.A) What is health?
• “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity” (WHO, 1948)
• “Health is a reasonably free state of physical and mental
discomfort and pain, which allows the person in question
to function effectively for the longest possible time in the
environment where by choice he is located” (René Dubos,
1959)
• “State of physical, mental and social well-being, with
functional capacity and not merely the absence of
ailments or diseases” (Milton Terris, 1980)
• “Health is the ability to realize one's own potential staff
and respond positively to environmental problems” (WHO
Europe 1985)

8. I.B) Health determinants
1. Lalonde (1973): community health is influenced by
lifestyle, biology, environment, and the healthcare
system.
2. Tarlov (1999): emphasizes the social determinants of
health and provides a framework for understanding
how social factors contribute to differential
vulnerability to disease.
3. Dahlgren & Whitehead's Theory (1991): depicts the
relationship between individuals, their environment,
and health, considering factors such as lifestyle,
community, living and working conditions, and
broader social conditions.

9. I.C) Key Determinants of Health and Their
Environmental Implications
✓ Income and social status
✓ Social support networks
✓ Education
✓ Employment/working
conditions
✓ Social environments
✓ Physical environments
✓ Personal health practices
and coping skills
✓ Healthy child development
✓ Biology and genetic
endowment
✓ Health services
✓ Gender
✓ Culture
• Environmental determinants of health
(EDHs): global, regional, national, and
local environmental factors → influence
human health.
• Includes: physical, chemical, and
biological factors external to a person,
and all related behaviors.

10. II. The Relationship
between Health
and Environment
A. Definition and understanding of public health
B. Environmental health & health protection

11. II.A) Public
Health
• Definition: “the art and science of
preventing disease, prolonging life and
promoting health through the organized
efforts of society".
• Public Health Services: Protection,
Promotion and Prevention.
• Wylie (1970) defines health, from a
perspective ecological, as "the perfect
adjustment of man to his environment",
and it introduces the concept of illness as
"a mismatch or failure of the mechanisms
that harmoniously maintain said
relationship".

12. II.B) Enviromental
health
Environmental health:
• Branch of PH that focuses on the interactions
between the environment and human health.
• Scope: It encompasses air quality, water & food
safety, sanitation, chemical exposures, and more.
Health protection:
• Protection of individuals, groups, and populations
through expert advice and effective collaboration to
prevent and mitigate the impact of biological,
environmental, chemical, and radiological threats.
• Strategies: Regulations, Education & Community
Engagement.

13. III. Impact of
Environmental Factors
on Public Health
Chemical, physical or biological exposures
and their health effects:
a) Air quality and respiratory health.
b) Waterborne diseases and water
quality.
c) Food security and foodborne disease.
d) Occupational health and
environmental risks in the workplace.

14. Some examples…
Impact of Environmental Factors on Public Health

16. IV. Public Health Approaches
to Environmental Health
Issues
1. Risk assessment & management: identify,
assess & mitigate.
2. Environmental health policies & regulations:
law & government plans.
3. Surveillance & monitoring of environmental
hazards: analyze & evaluate.

17. Summarizing
Health: ability to realize one's own potential staff and respond positively to environmental
problems.
Environmental determinants: Global, regional, national, and local environmental factors that
influence human health.
Health protection: prevent and mitigate the impact of biological, environmental, chemical, and
radiological threats.
Enviromental factors: Air and water quality, Food security & Occupational health.
Approches: Risk assessment and management, policies and regulations & Surveillance and
monitoring hazards.

18. Exercise for the next class
1. Choose an environmental health topic from your country. For example, legislation, public health measure, crisis
due to a pollutant, social debate about an exposure.
Invasive mosquitoes.
2. Define in one sentence:
2.1. Health problem. Viral diseases transmitted by vectors.
2.2. How does it affect (or can it affect) health? They can cause dengue or Zika.
2.3. How many people have been affected/could there have been in your country? There have been 2
suspected cases of indigenous dengue and more than 190 cases of Zika (1 microcephaly).
3. Explain in one or two sentences:
3.1. How can the population be protected from this risk?
Avoiding bites and monitoring their symptoms when they return. This could prevent them from becoming
infected and from being bitten by mosquitoes and infecting others when they return.
3.2. What tools are needed to implement those measures?
information campaigns in the media, vaccination centers and travel agencies.
Write it in the course forum (ALUD) + 1-2 power points slides (next class)