International journal of environmental research and public health
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · Jul 2018
Children's Environmental Health Indicators in Context of the Sustainable Development Goals for Small Island Developing States.
The unique environmental vulnerability of small island developing states (SIDS) is likely to impact negatively on children's health. Children's environmental health indicators (CEHI) are standardized measures that can be used to assess the environmental exposures and their resulting health outcomes in children. This study sought to utilize the United Nations (UN) global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with their associated targets and indicators, as a framework for a CEHI proposal for SIDS. ⋯ The framework was populated with available data from the World Bank's DataBank. Whilst there was some data available at a population level, major gaps in both exposure-side and health-side indicators were revealed. In order to progress children's environmental health in SIDS, a further piece of work is required to propose a fully prioritized set of exposure-side and health-side CEHIs; based on, but not exclusively linked to, the SDGs.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · Jul 2018
A Cross-Sectional Study of Smoking Behaviors and Attitudes of Parents in Pediatric Primary Care Settings.
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure is considered an important public health issue in pediatric population. In this study, we aimed to investigate parents' knowledge on side effects of passive smoking and counseling for parental smoking among pediatricians and family practitioners. Participants were biological parents of pediatric patients up to the age of 18 years old who attended Pediatric Hospital of Medical University of Warsaw. ⋯ Among smoking parents, 38% (78/207) has tried to quit smoking for their child's health sake; 63% (131/207) of smokers have never been asked to quit smoking by their doctor. Parents' understanding of passive smoking among children differs from current medical knowledge. Rates of screening and counseling for parental smoking in pediatric and family practices are still unsatisfactory.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · Jul 2018
ReviewClimate Change Impacts on Disaster and Emergency Medicine Focusing on Mitigation Disruptive Effects: an International Perspective.
In recent decades, climate change has been responsible for an increase in the average temperature of the troposphere and of the oceans, with consequences on the frequency and intensity of many extreme weather phenomena. Climate change’s effects on natural disasters can be expected to induce a rise in humanitarian crises. In addition, it will surely impact the population’s long-term general health, especially among the most fragile. ⋯ These risks include the geographic redistribution of infectious (particularly zoonotic) diseases, an increase in cardiac and respiratory illnesses, as well as a host of other health hazards. Some of these risks have been detailed for most developed countries as well as for some developing countries. Using these existing risk assessments as a template, organizational innovations as well as implementation strategies should be proposed to mitigate the disruptive effects of these health risks on emergency departments and by extension, reduce the negative impact of climate change on the populations they serve.