Seasonal hazards and health risks in lower-income countries: field testing a multi-disciplinary approach.
Seasonal hazards and health risks in lower-income countries: field testing a multi-disciplinary approach.
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DOI：
10.1186/1476-069x-8-s1-s16
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发表时间：
2009-12-21
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Thien VT
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Few R;Lake I;Hunter PR;Tran PG;Thien VT
在气候变化的背景下，特别是在低收入国家，了解环境条件的季节性变化如何影响人类健康风险可能变得越来越重要。多学科方法可成为增进了解的有用工具，特别是在现有数据资源有限但季节性危害对环境健康的影响可能很大的情况下。这篇短文描述了一种多学科方法，结合了对环境污染水平变化的分析、疾病发病率的季节性变化以及对健康行为的社会科学分析。该方法在越南湄公河三角洲的一个城市周边环境中进行了实地测试，由于三角洲的水位从洪水季节到旱季的变化，当地环境中的贫困家庭面临着交替的季节性极端情况。研究地点的低收入家庭依靠河水生活，包括提供饮用水，人们普遍认为，季节性变化改变了与水污染有关的腹泻病和其他疾病的风险。讨论的重点是在该领域的方法的实施，并从研究过程中吸取教训，可以帮助完善和发展的方法，在其他地方的疾病风险的季节性动态可能会对公共卫生产生重要影响的应用。
Understanding how risks to human health change as a result of seasonal variations in environmental conditions is likely to become of increasing importance in the context of climatic change, especially in lower-income countries. A multi-disciplinary approach can be a useful tool for improving understanding, particularly in situations where existing data resources are limited but the environmental health implications of seasonal hazards may be high. This short article describes a multi-disciplinary approach combining analysis of changes in levels of environmental contamination, seasonal variations in disease incidence and a social scientific analysis of health behaviour. The methodology was field-tested in a peri-urban environment in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, where poor households face alternate seasonal extremes in the local environment as the water level in the Delta changes from flood to dry season. Low-income households in the research sites rely on river water for domestic uses, including provision of drinking water, and it is commonly perceived that the seasonal changes alter risk from diarrhoeal diseases and other diseases associated with contamination of water. The discussion focuses on the implementation of the methodology in the field, and draws lessons from the research process that can help in refining and developing the approach for application in other locations where seasonal dynamics of disease risk may have important consequences for public health.