Talk:EcoHealth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] General comments on content
As an ecohealth practitioner, I think this is an excellent article and in general it represents the subject matter very well. However, I suggest that the scope of the EcoHealth discipline is wider than what is suggested in this article. For example, the opening paragraph currently states that EcoHealth focusses on "how changes in the earth’s ecosystems are impacting human health", and that "EcoHealth examines changes in the biological, physical, social and economic environments and relates these changes to impacts upon human health." In fact, EcoHealth is not just about examining the impacts of change, though that is where it has its roots; it has broadened in recent years to include the study of basic ecosystem-health relationships where change is not the primary focus, and applying the concept of "healthy environment = healthy people" to studies within a range of other disciplines including food production / food security, economics, international devlopment / poverty reduction, sociology, disaster prevention etc. I suggest that this needs to be reflected in the text. For examples, see the reports of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the websites of the International Association for Ecology and Health, and the COHAB Initiative. Mudpuddles1418 (talk) 19:57, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Businesses
The paragraph titled "Businesses" contains one link, to a building design company (http://www.epochhomes.net/home.htm ). While I'm sure that the business is reputable and that the sustainable building design product it offers is environmentally sound, it has nothing to do with the theme of this Wikipedia entry. EcoHealth is a scientific discipline focused on the links between ecosystem health and human health. While sustainable building design is an important part of economically and envronmentally sustainable development, it is not of direct relevance to the global issues of population health, ecosystem integrity and international development which EcoHealth addresses. Therefore, I suggest deleting the paragraph / link as it adds nothing to a reader's understanding of the EcoHealth discipline, and merely seems to advertise a business. Mudpuddles1418 (talk) 19:57, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Categories
I notice that the category "Environment" has been changed to "Environmental health". I suggest that this is inappropriate - it is widely accepted that the term "environmental health" applies to conditions in the human built or physical environment that affect human health, with focus on the occurrence and effects of chemicals, biologics or physical hazards associated with the residential and working environments (see the definition of "environmental health" used by the World Health Organisation). "Environmental health" does not apply to ecosystems or to prevailing conditions in the natural environment, nor does it apply to plant and animal health or to the wider areas of natural systems which EcoHealth deals with as a discipline. Therefore I suggest that "Environmental health" be deleted, and "Environment" reinstated as a category heading. Theartsvault (talk) 15:42, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
