The Centre for Environmental Health Activities (CEHA) provides technical support to countries in the following programme areas.

• water, sanitation and health
• indoor and outdoor air quality
• hazardous, and health care waste management
• climate change and health
• health and environment linkages and information
• environmental health risk and impact assessment.

Environmental health

Environmental health addresses all the physical, chemical and biological factors and ecological systems external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviours. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect human health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments.

Services

CEHA provides support to countries in adapting and adopting the most appropriate and cost-effective interventions to minimize the burden of environmental risks on public health. Often, solutions to environmental health issues are not reflected or integrated into national policies or tailored to country-specific conditions. CEHA’s services include:

• developing human resources
• exchanging information
• providing technical support and developing institutional capacity
• conducting special and applied research studies and disseminating information on health and the environment.

Partners

CEHA works with a range of local, regional and international partners, including UN agencies, academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations and funding agencies, to ensure a coherent approach to policies, programmes and action.