L‘pollution ei Climate changes affect our health making us weaker in the face of the development of diseases: for this reason it is essential to increasingly combine health education of the population and, in particular of young people, with the promotion of targeted interventions to limit the dangers caused by human action on the environment.
Damage to the environment affects our health
This is the appeal launched at the conference One Health Day. From the Laboratory to the Environment: A One Health Approach for Disease Preventionin Montecitorio, promoted by One Health Foundation. Our health is «inextricably linked to that of other species and the environment – underlines Roberto Danovaro, professor of Ecology at the University of Marche -. By polluting the world we pay a very high price in terms of life expectancy and healthcare costs. It is a complex challenge, but more research and investments are needed.”
Environmental factors influence 24% of diseases. Action is urgently needed for global health Planet (Getty)
The One Healthon project
The project One Healthon was launched in March with a series of initiatives with the objective of urging the institutions to intervene as soon as possible by starting projects with tangible results. The campaign is the first ever carried out in Italy on the topic because, experts say, through adequate environmental policies deaths can be reducedthe incidence of some diseases and many other public health problems.
Deaths and illnesses can be stopped
In fact, it is now proven that the majority of cases of cardiovascular, oncological and respiratory diseases are influenced in some way by environmental factors. Over 1.4 million deaths per year from cancer in the world sThey can be traced back to modifiable environmental risk factors.
Health and damage to the environment: healthy lifestyles also count
All this, however, “must not represent an alibi for anyone and encourage behaviors such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and a sedentary lifestyle, which are equally dangerous”. It has been demonstrated, in fact, that with healthy lifestyles, up to 40% of new cancer diagnoses can be avoided. Health, therefore, must be global and include prevention, personalized care, constant scientific innovation and all-out defense of the environment and the animal world. Also because, as is clear, what we are doing to the environment comes back to us as less health. The campaign will include both informative and practical actionswith the activation of virtual clinics to educate citizens of all ages on this new holistic approach to health.
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