Public health safety and environment in inadequate hospital and healthcare settings: a review

Abstract

Objectives: Public health safety and environmental management are concerns that pose challenges worldwide. This paper briefly assesses a selected impact of the environment on public health.

Study design: The study used an assessment of environmental mechanism to analyse the underlying different pathways in which the health sector is affected in inadequate hospital and health care settings.

Methods: We reviewed the limited available evidence of the association between the health sector and the environment, and the likely pathways through which the environment influences health. The paper also models the use of private health care as a function of costs and benefits relative to public care and no care.

Results: The need to enhancing policies to improve the administration of health services, strengthening interventions on environment using international agreements, like Rio Conventions, including measures to control hospital-related infection, planning for human resources and infrastructure construction development have linkage to improve environment care and public health. The present study findings partly also demonstrate the influence of demand for health on the environment.

Conclusion: The list of possible interventions includes enhancing policies to improve the administration of health services, strengthening Rio Conventions implementation on environmental concerns, control of environmental hazards and public health.

Keywords: Administration; Health services; Planning; Private health care; Rio Conventions.