Environment, Climate Change and Health
We pursue a healthier environment by strengthening health sector leadership, building mechanisms for political and social support and monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals regarding environmental threats to health.
Environmental health in emergencies
WHO/H. Rafalia
©
Credits
Introduction
Emergency situations, including those due to natural hazards (e.g. earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, wildfires and droughts), technological hazards (e.g. chemical spills, disruption to infrastructure), complex situations (produced by conflict) and outbreaks, lead to health-related diseases and affect populations in all contexts.
The scale and types of radiological and nuclear emergencies may range from an isolated occupational or medical over-exposure of a person, to a major catastrophe with global dimensions.
Publications
The purpose of the WHO human health risk assessment toolkit: chemical hazards is to provide its users with guidance to identify, acquire and use the information...
24 November 2020
A framework for mental health and psychosocial support in radiological and nuclear emergencies
The health impact of radiological and nuclear emergencies can last for decades. Lessons learned from past radiological and nuclear accidents have demonstrated...
2 July 2018
Management of radioactivity in drinking-water
Chapter 9 of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (GDWQ) provides guidance related to radiological aspects of drinking-water. Management...
10 January 2018
Communicating risk in public health emergencies: a WHO guideline for emergency risk communication (ERC)...
Recent public health emergencies, such as the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa (2014–2015), the emergence of the Zika virus syndrome in...
1 January 2018
Guidance document on evaluating and expressing uncertainty in hazard characterization, 2nd edition
Guidance on Evaluating and Expressing Uncertainty in Hazard Assessment is available in Harmonization Project Document No. 11, 2nd Edition (2017). The 2nd...
5 November 2017
Iodine thyroid blocking: Guidelines for use in planning and responding to radiological and nuclear emergencies
These guidelines are an update of the 1999 World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on the use of iodine thyroid blocking (ITB) with a special focus on...
1 January 2014
Initial clinical management of patients exposed to chemical weapons: interim guidance document
This interim guidance is aimed at healthcare workers who may receive patients exposed to chemical weapons at their healthcare facilities. The guidance...
The purpose of the WHO Manual for the Public Health Management of Chemical Incidents is to provide a comprehensive overview of the principles and roles...
30 October 2007
Mass casualty management systems : strategies and guidelines for building health sector capacity
The common gaps in health system preparedness around the world are generally well understood, but they are often not addressed in a comprehensive and systematic...
16 June 2005
The drinking-water response to the Indian Ocean tsunami including the role of household water treatment
The 26 December 2004 tsunami devastated costal areas of eleven countries around the Indian Ocean. As part of an unprecedented emergency response, stakeholders...
1 January 2003
Terrorist threats to food: guidance for establishing and strengthening prevention and response systems
The malicious contamination of food for terrorist purposes is a real and current threat, and deliberate contamination of food at one location could have...
26 September 2002
Environmental health in emergencies and disasters: A practical guide
The WHO Guide to sanitation in natural disasters (Assar, 1971) summarized the essential aspects of environmental health management in disasters. These...
