From the Editor

The environment in which people live from the household to the global level significantly affects their health. Health and environment have a mutual nexus between them. The environment is an assemblage of physical, chemical biological, social, cultural and economic conditions, and these have enormous health implications. Environmental factors are, no doubt, a significant determinant of health and illness, especially in the third world countries.
Environmental threats to human health are numerous. According to World Bank (2001) traditional hazards which are related to poverty and “inefficient” development include lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate basic sanitation in the household and the community, indoor air pollution from cooking and heating using coal or biomass fuel, and inadequate solid waste disposal. Water pollution due to industrial wastes and air pollution due to carbon-dioxide and lead dust as well as smoke from brick and other kiln degrade the environment largely. There may occur climate change and transboundary pollution. However, modern health hazards are related to development that lacks health and environmental safeguards, and to unsustainable consumption of natural resources.
One can look at environmental health problems from the viewpoint of the burden of death, disease and disability and analyze the relative importance of the different environmental factors. The burden of diseases on a per capita basis is about 100 times higher in the least developed countries (WHO 1995) mainly to contribution of environmental factors of poor housing and living conditions, poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water and safe food.