5 November 2009: The World Health Organization (WHO) has published an article in its Bulletin in which scientists argue that environmental health is a necessary element of any health system and underscore the need to identify and tackle new, emerging and re-emerging risks, including examination of the spatial distribution of diseases such as vector-borne diseases in relation to climate change.
Modifiable environmental risk factors are considered responsible for approximately one quarter of the global burden of diseases, hitting developing countries 15 times harder than developed countries. Among possible solutions, the authors single out India’s development of a new generation of efficient gasifier stoves, minimizing pollutant emissions from biomass combustion and climate change mitigation. [WHO Bulletin Article]