ABSTRACT
Environmental health is not something unique to the UK and the World Health Organization has recognized the importance of environmental health
and environmental health practice. It is also true that in a global economy, inequalities in health do not just exist within countries but between countries. The World Health Organization’s constitution
states that its objective ‘is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health’. Environmental health professionals play a major part in achieving this goal. The purpose of this chapter is to make readers aware of how the environmental health service is delivered outwith the UK, of some of the problems faced by other countries in delivering an environmental health service, and also to provide information about organizations involved in public and environmental health around the world. More than at any time in the past, opportunities
exist for qualified environmental health professionals to gain experience or to work in other countries across the globe; within the public sector, within aid agencies and within private practice. By doing so, professionals can gain valuable experience of environmental health problems not normally encountered, for example, within the United Kingdom, and by doing so they can also contribute to the development and improvement of environmental health worldwide. The diversity of the environmental health needs
and challenges that people now face is a far cry from the requirements in the mid twentieth century. In the 1950s and 1960s many environmental
health professionals sought employment abroad either by emigrating or on short term contracts/ secondments from, for example, the Ministry of Overseas Development and working within former colonies of the United Kingdom. Others worked as advisors and specialists in the then developing oil related industries in the Middle East. Some of the work in which environmental health professionals were involved would now be classified as basic public health and sanitation. On the whole people are now healthier, wealthier and live longer and there have been significant improvements to food control and pollution control, and for example in access to water and sanitation. But there still remain a significant proportion of people in the world today, one in five, who live in poverty and are subjected, on an almost daily basis, to dangers associated with hunger and disease. Ten million children die, most of them due to preventable diseases, before they reach their fifth birthday. However, as the nature of health problems change more opportunities exist than four decades ago and these opportunities are much wider and more challenging than previously encountered. It is estimated that there are 59.8 million health
workers worldwide, with about two thirds of them providing health services. The definition of the Health Workforce is presented in the World Health Organization Global Atlas of the Health Workforce (WHO Department of Human Resources for Health Publication date 2008). Depending on the country, health workers are classified in up to nine broad categories. Environmental health professionals are classified under the heading ‘Environment and public health workers’ which includes environmental and public health officers, environmental and public health technicians, sanitarians, hygienists, district health officers, public health inspectors, food inspectors, malaria inspectors and related occupations. There is an opportunity, therefore, to gain experience not only within traditional environmental health work but also by being part of the wider public health workforce. People who are motivated to work overseas do so for a variety of reasons which include career opportunities, job satisfaction, better working conditions and the quality of life generally. A number of countries, particularly in the developing world, depend
heavily on health professionals who have been trained abroad. It is important therefore, to carry out detailed research about the country, its health service, and about the major challenges that you are likely to face. It should also be borne in mind that while English is widely spoken, becoming fluent in the language of the country is always an advantage. The information contained in this chapter is designed to give you an insight into how the environmental health service is provided in other countries and gives information on professional associations and other relevant government and non – government organizations that exist in these countries.
