The environmental health nexuses within the Strategic Roadmap: regional work priorities for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (Editorial).

The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is a diverse region in terms of income, development, health and environmental conditions. The environment and ecosystems are under serious pressures with adverse impacts on human health and well-being. Environmental Health (EH) is an area of growing importance for EMR, and environmental risk factors such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change and radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries, and environmental hazards are responsible for about 22% of the total burden of disease in the Region.

Towards a renewed public health regulatory and surveillance role in water, sanitation and hygiene (Editorial).

Evidence from the burden of disease studies indicates that improving water, sanitation and hygiene (WSH) is a primary disease prevention measure. It prevents 57% of diarrheal deaths, contributes to prevention and management of neglected tropical diseases, and is the first line of defense against Cholera. Moreover, water and sanitation (W&S) services and hygiene contribute to programme initiatives including new-born, child and maternal health; infection prevention and control; universal health care; antimicrobial resistance; and health emergencies. Access to W&S services is recognized by the United Nations as a human right.

Climate change and health in the Eastern Mediterranean countries: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: To summarize the existing knowledge of the impact of climate change on health from previous research in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) and identify knowledge and research gaps. METHODS: Different databases were searched for relevant studies published in the region between 2000 and 2014. The review was limited to studies reporting the impacts of climate change on health or studying associations between meteorological parameters and well-defined human health outcomes. RESULTS: This systematic review of 78 studies identified many knowledge and research gaps. Research linking climate change and health is scarce in the most vulnerable countries of the region. There is limited information regarding how changes in temperature, precipitation and other weather variables might affect the geographic range and incidence of mortality and morbidity from various diseases. Available research has many limitations and shortcomings that arise from inappropriate study designs, poor assessment of exposure and outcomes, questionable sources of data, lack of standardized methods, poor adjustment of confounders, limited geographical area studies, small sample sizes, poor statistical modeling and not testing for possible interactions between exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Research and information on the effect of climate change on health are limited. Longitudinal studies over extended periods of time that investigate the link between climate change and health are needed. There is a need for studies to be expanded to include more countries in the region and to include other environmental, social and economic factors that might affect the spread of the disease.