× Limited Time Offer ! FLAT 20-40% off - Grab Deal Before It’s Gone. Order Now
Connect With Us
Order Now

PUBH6002 Global and Environmental Health Issue Assignment Sample

Individual/Group - Individual
Length - 1000 words (+/- 10%)

Learning Outcomes - The Subject Learning Outcomes demonstrated by successful completion of the task below include:

a) Examine environmental factors from the local to the global levels that influence health and interpret the relevance to the health of populations.

b) Interpret and analyse the impacts of globalisation on the social, economic, and political determinants of global and local health.

c) Critically analyse ethical elements relevant to environmental health protections, policies, and industry practices, including identification of vulnerable groups

d) Investigate the relationships between environmental risk factors and social, economic, and political determinants of illness and injury.

Instructions

Review the given policy provided by your lecturer. Public health policies are evidence-base
structured targets, aiming to provide the practical strategies that governments can apply to regulate key structural factors that contribute to the burden of, and the risk factors associated with the disease that is targeted by the policy.

To review the given policy, read carefully the given policy provided by your Learning facilitator.

Research the academic literature related to the policy and then conduct a review in 1000 words
(±10%) a report guided by the following four questions:

Introduction/Background (Approx. 150 words)

- In the introduction present the burden of disease and risk factors before the implementation of the current policy.

- Finally, briefly discuss the impact of the health-related issues related to the specific burden of disease(s) and population.

- Include an overview of the assessment as part of the introduction. Policy analysis (Approx. 600 words)

- Discuss how the policy was developed? Who were the key stakeholders in this development and what were their role?

- Describe the expected outcomes and the strengths of policy based on its successful achievements?

- Discuss 2 challenges or strategies that have been less successful or unsuccessful related to the policy. Recommendations and conclusions (Approx. 250 words)

- Provide 3 evidence-based recommendations to improve the implementation and/or efficacy of the policy based on your policy analysis.

Annexes

Solution

Introduction

Though in comparison with most of the countries of the world, Australia can boast of a clean and healthier quality of air, it has almost 5000 of its citizens that succumb every year due to diseases caused due to air pollution. The increase in population, urbanization, industrialization, air mode of transport, deterioration of the climate, and injudicious use of energy resources has been contributory factors to Australian air pollution. It has been predicted that with any remedial steps, a substantial increase in summer smog will be noticed after the year 2030, along with drought-driven bushfires and dust storms (science.org.au, 2022). Prolonged exposure to air pollution can increase the chances of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and lung cancer. The vulnerable population like children, the elderly, the economically backward, and people with an already compromised immune system are more at risk of health hazards caused by air pollution (Who. int, 2022). Glencross et al (2020), researched that air pollution has a severe adverse impact on the immune system of the population. This report for assignment help will cover an analysis of the National Clean Air Agreement, Australia which was formed in December 2015.

Policy Analysis

In April 2014 Commonwealth Environment Minister of Australia Greg Hunt Conceptualized this agreement with the proposal of united efforts of all Environmental authorities of Australia for improving the air quality. Though the primary responsibility lies with the local governing authorities, all the levels of statutory and government authorities play a significant role in improving air quality. The Commonwealth, state government, and the local territorial government were identified as the key stakeholders responsible for the successful implementation of this agreement. This agreement was formulated to identify the main areas that contributed to poor air quality and to set priorities to work on those identified target areas. Identification of key air pollutants and their sources, and strategies to mitigate their impact was the objective of this agreement. Strategies to reduce air pollution need to be devised. This agreement aimed to meet three fundamental outcomes: improvement in environmental condition and health of citizens of Australia, society empowerment through increased awareness, access to authentic and genuine information and ways to combat air pollution, and an updated tracking system of air quality based on information, evidence, scientific principles and facts specifically for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. This agreement is a complementary tool for other government and commonwealth-enabled initiatives for environmental sustainability. The Commonwealth Government launched a National Environmental Science Programme that has a dedicated fund of $8.88 million for ensuring air quality in urban areas. An additional fund of $2.55 billion has been created to reduce the emission of harmful gases and air pollutants to establish the Emissions. Some notable achievements of the agreement over the years include the establishment of standards for emissions from marine engines and power equipment that will operate outdoors, and an increase in the quality of air for particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone gases (dcceew.gov.au, 2022). Various air champions have been identified who will work for this cause, and spread awareness and education. Non–statutory initiatives to improve air quality have also been identified (awe.gov.au, 2022). The main strength of this agreement is its holistic and comprehensive approach to dealing with the poor air quality whereby it attempts to garner support and collaboration at all levels of multiple stakeholders. Participation from local to national level improves the commitment towards the objective and reduces the resistance if any. Another strength is not only its short-term objective that will be met with a reduction in emissions but also a long-term vision of creating a culture or lifestyle change in the citizens of the country through awareness and education which is going to yield long-term sustainable benefits in maintaining air quality.

There has been criticism of this agreement by various environmental groups on the ground that the standards laid down by the Australian government in its clean air agreement do not comply with the norms established by the World Health Organization. Owing to this criticism, Australia has now set upper limits on the air pollutants PM10 which denotes the coal dust, fumes, and other coarse air particles, and PM2.5. a limit of 25 micrograms per cubic meter has been set for PM 10 (Abc.net.au, 2022). Another shortcoming of this policy is the lack of focus on industrialization as a contributor to air quality. There should be a stringent upper limit on the industries in the emission of air pollutants, the type of air pollutants, and also the consumption of natural resources.

Recommendations and Conclusions

The standards set in this policy should be following the standards set by the WHO for a universal and global approach and adherence to air quality. WHO has set various upper limits for different gases, fumes, and air pollutants which can serve as a benchmark for this agreement (C40knowledgehub.org, 2022).

The Australian government can also study the cases of other developing countries that have been facing air quality issues and understand the initiatives taken by them to curb this growing menace.


Figure 1: Initiatives to improve air quality across various countries
(Source: Safety4sea.com 2022)

Eco-friendly public transport systems that are pedestrian- and cycle-oriented, purchasing energy-efficient electronic appliances and machinery, reduction in domestic as well as industrial waste, and reduction in agro incineration, are some of the steps that can be undertaken at the community level (Financialexpress.com, 2022).

Australia has been frequently criticized for its lack of regulation and enforcement of air pollution. The harmful impact of air pollutants, even when under the permissible limit, cannot simply be ignored. The agreement along with other environmental pacts are found to be lacking in monitoring mechanisms, established universal standards, and lack of coordination between government authorities. The main cause of air pollution in Australia is particulate matter (PM) which is generated by industry and transport vehicles, mining, and coal-related activities. The National Clean Air agreement should have it in its priority area as the adverse impacts of PM on health such as neurodevelopment disorders, lung, and respiratory diseases and increased mortality cannot be ignored. The Agreement must identify high threat zones through the data related to air quality and the cost of health damages in that area and treat those areas as a high priority. The agreement should reflect the financial burden of health hazards on the economy of the country. The agreement ignores the huge expenditure incurred because of health hazards due to air pollution. Approximately $5.9 billion is spent on health issues due to transport and energy per annum in Australia and its economic impact on the bottom line of the country should be reflected in the agreement (Vlies, 2022). The agreement should also focus on vulnerable areas like Hunter Valley in New South Wales which is targeted not only by environmental pollution but also by social and economic disparity. Being a hub for coal mining, it causes tremendous air pollution due to the emission of hazardous and toxic fumes, and huge amounts of waste (amansw.com.au, 2022).

References

Fill the form to continue reading

Download Samples PDF

Related Sample

Assignment Services