Impact of Economics in Environmental health

There are several evidences on the burden of
disease which are major determinants of environmental health which provides a
strong basis for designing policies in many sectors that promote health and
reduce exposure to harmful substances.

Data on the economic costs and
benefits of such policies (including the costs of inaction) provide additional
compelling arguments for investing in disease prevention and are thus of high
political importance for policy- and decision-makers.

The proper considerations of the
economic dimension are a very important factor of environmental health policies
especially during times of economic downturn. As a result of this, it is
important to promote the use of economic evidence to identify the most
effective policies for environment and health, and to strengthen the case for policies
that considers environmental impact in environmental health.

It is also very necessary that
economic methods are applied increasingly to translate health benefits into
economic value or to compare the performance of alternative policies in areas
such as climate change, outdoor air pollution, transport, water and sanitation.
However, economic assessments are not always robust, and economic evidence is
still incomplete, for example with regard to the impacts of noise pollution and
asbestos.

Key challenges of the impact of economics in
environmental health in the world today include:

·
the generation of evidence to fill current
knowledge gaps;

·
advancing the interpretation of economic
data;

·
harmonization of approaches and ways in which
economic tools are applied and disseminated; and

·
Increasing the motivation and capacity of
decision-makers to apply economic evidence.