A focus on Latin America and the Caribbean
Growing evidence demonstrates the links between the environment and health. Water and sanitation-related diseases are one of the leading causes of under-five mortality. Damage to women's health from indoor air pollution or from carrying heavy loads of water and fuelwood can make women less fit for childbirth and at greater risk of complications during pregnancy. Malaria, an annual killer of an estimated 1 million children under age five, may be exacerbated as a result of deforestation, loss of biodiversity and poor water management. Up to a quarter of the burden of disease worldwide is linked to environmental factors—primarily polluted air and water, lack of sanitation and vector-borne diseases—and measures to prevent damage to health from environmental causes are often more cost-effective than treatment of the resulting illnesses.
This section contains methodology for studying the links between health and the environment, otherwise known as "GEO Health." It is aimed at users who wish to study health-environment links in more detail during an environmental assessment or who want to conduct a dedicated "integrated health and environmental assessment."
GEO Health in the City of São Paulo is a methodological approach based on understanding the complex interrelation of environmental variables, hazards to health, and loss in quality of life. The complex interrelation between the quality of the environment and human health is the central theme of this report.
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