Environmental Health in Israel | 2014

Environmental Health in Israel 2014 - 6 - Human health and environmental health are closely interrelated. The recognition that the environment has a significant impact on human health led to improvements in sanitary conditions in both residential and medical environments. Indeed, this improvement in environmental conditions was beneficial to public health and led to both an increase in life expectancy and a decrease in infant mortality. In the modern era there have been fundamental changes in the nature of environmental risk factors. We are witnessing an accumulation of new, exciting scientific evidence regarding these risks. Despite the positive developments in environmental health in recent years, there is still much work ahead of us. The effects of environmental factors on human health are complex and difficult to assess, since they depend on many factors and a range of variables. Furthermore, there are still knowledge gaps in understanding the way environmental exposures can influence the health of the general population, especially in vulnerable sub- populations. Addressing environmental health issues is uniquely complex because of the many agencies and organizations involved in environmental issues affecting health. Therefore, it is difficult at times to get a complete and up-to-date view of the state of environmental health issues. This report is unique in that it summarizes, for the first time, a wide range of environmental health topics in Israel. The aim of this report is to present information accumulated over the past five years (2010-2014), and to summarize the major environmental health issues currently on the agenda of decision makers in the field. Introduction