ecohealth BPH.ppt its helpful for the bachelor students

for public health students

1. 1
Pratima Neupane
School of Public Health
KAHS, Jumla
Eco-health Approach To
Human Health and Diseases

2. 2
Assumption
It is possible to improve human health
efficiently (cost efficiency, sustainability,
equitably) with better management of the
ecosystem, taking into account social,
economic and environmental factors

3. ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO HUMAN
HEALTH
•Eco-Health is an emerging field of study researching,
education, and practice that adopts systems
approaches to promote the health of people, animals
and ecosystems in the context of social and
ecological interactions how changes in the earth’s
ecosystems affect on human health
•Eco-health emphasizes human agency and systemic
thinking to promote well-being and quality of life
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4. •The ecosystem approach attempts to identify and
evaluate the importance of the various determinants of
both the health of an ecosystem and the health of the
people who live in it
•Aim to improve community health by focusing on social
and ecological interactions in the analysis of health
determinants and responses to health problems.
•Holistic approach: understand social, economic, political
and environmental influences on health and use this
knowledge to design interventions to improve human
health in sustainable ways
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5. •The ecosystem approach is a “strategy for the
integrated management of land, water and living
resources that promotes conservation and
sustainable use in an equitable way”.
•The objective of the ecosystem approach to human
health is to enhance the health of communities by
instituting ecosystem-management methods that will
foster the sustainability of the ecosystem itself and
the health of the human beings who are part of it
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6. Ecosystem approach to human health (Eco-health)
distinguished by:
•Human-centred approach to collective
development
•Improve human health through better
ecosystem management
•Holistic perspective
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7. •Society-naturalenvironmentinteractionsmustbe
exploredincontextofhumanwell-being
•Equalemphasismust be placedon
concerns/understandingofweboffactorsfrom
environment,social,economy,policy
•Triestoelaboratesolutionsbasedonalternative
managementofecosystemratherthanclassical
interventionsofhealthsector
•Theanalysisfocusesontheecosystemleveltoenhance
theparticipationofsocietyandtheintegrationof
differentperspectivesinaddressingrelevant
developmentissues.
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8. 8
Ecosystems Approaches to Human Health
(Eco-health)
•Eco health approaches can contribute to the prevention
of communicable diseases, such as malaria and
dengue, and other vector-borne diseases. The ecology
and transmission of vector-borne diseases are closely
related to environmental resource management, social
and behavioral patterns.
•Place health in the context of environment and
systemswhere people live
•Recognizes influences of social, economic, political
and environmentalcomponents equally
•Promotemulti-stakeholder and participatory
processes for social learning and negotiated solutions
•Special attention to issues of social and gender equity

9. •The ecosystem approach gives equal importance to
environmental management, economic factors, and
community aspirations.
•A Traditional approaches dealing single subject at
once is no longer adequate.
•Traditional biomedical approach to health is based on
methods of diagnosing and treating specific
pathologies: one pathogen = one disease.
•Traditional approach does not take into account the
connections between disease and socioeconomic
factors such as poverty and malnutrition, and even
does not consider the connections between disease
and the environment in which sick people live
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10. •Co-managementofhumanactivityandthe
environmentisessential.Thischallengerequiresthat
disciplinesdrawtogethertostudythehuman
environmentrelationship
•TheEco-healthapproachisthuspartofthe
sustainabledevelopmentprocess.Itpromotes
positiveactionontheenvironmentthatimproves
communitywell-beingandhealth
•Theecosystemapproachgivesequalimportanceto
environmentalmanagement,economicfactors,and
communityaspirations.
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Methodological pillars
•Trans-disciplinary research
•Participatory research
•Gender and social equity research

13. Research Methods
Activity Calendar Resource Mapping
Seasonal Calendar
Priority Ranking

15. Environmental quality and health
•Healthy population depends on a healthy Environment
•Environment has a direct impact on physical, mental
and social well-being
•Environmental factors range from housing, water
supply, psychosocial stress and family structure
through social and economic support system
•Poor environmental factors is responsible to cause 20 -
25% of all diseases
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16. Sanitation and Hygiene

17. Examples of Government program
•Vitamin A capsule distribution
•Iron tablet distribution
•Dewormingtablet for pregnant women
Overcome Uncertainty of Food
security

18. Pellagrais a vitamin deficiency
disease -most commonly caused
by a chronic lack of Niacin
(vitamin B
3) in the diet

19. How to accomplish dietary diversity in practice ??
Example of Home Garden

20. Shifting cultivation practice in Nepal