FP/AR UNIT 3

Foundation Center

English Language Department

ACADEMIC READING UNIT 3

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Reading for Information

Identifying Sections
Text Referencing
Information Extraction and Transfer

NAME: Kawther Mohammed Ali

GROUP: 12 DATE: 4 / 3 / 2022

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ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Objectives
To monitor and to control all those factors within the environment be they
biological, chemical, or physical, that have direct or indirect, short-term
or long-term impact on human health.
Introduction
Environment is a term used to describe all living and non-living things and conditions in and
around an individual, family, or a community, which influence them. The environment has a
direct influence on the well being or health of an individual, family and community. Our
surroundings can affect our well being in either a positive or a negative way. We can alter some
of the environmental factors to improve our health status.

The main aims in the context of environmental health in P.H.C. are:

 To prevent diseases related to unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation and low
standards of personal hygiene.
 To improve the quality of life and health of the population by promoting personal
and community hygiene through self-reliance and community action.

The activities relating to environmental health are:

(a) Promotion of personal hygiene
(b) Improvement of sanitation which means an improvement of garbage/waste collection
and disposal, and a proper system of excreta disposal.
(c) Ensuring safe drinking water supply by protecting water sources and surveying of
drinking water.
(d) Food quality control
(e) Vector control.

Although actual carrying out of the water supply and sanitation are not the direct responsibility
of P.H.C. workers, they have to play a role in monitoring the environmental factors and
suggesting appropriate measures for improvement to the concerned departments. This is
necessary to improve the environment.

On the community level, education is the best tool in influencing environmental health. The
community should be educated and motivated to:

 Assess their environmental health needs.

 Identify resources to meet those needs.
 Implement an agreed-upon plan.
 Continue the newly initiated activities.
 Periodically evaluate the environmental health activities.

1- Promotion of personal hygiene.

Objective
To promote the principles of personal hygiene in the community.

A health worker can affect and improve environmental health at different levels: the individual,
family and community levels. An individual's behaviour affects the family's health status and the
family's resources and behaviour, affect the individual. Improving the environmental health

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status of the individual and family will contribute to the improvement of the environmental
health of the community.

In working with individuals and families, the P.H.C. provider needs to emphasise the following
points that are relevant and appropriate to the situation:

 Washing hands with soap and water after defecation and before handling or eating food.
 Bathing at least once a day in a hot climate or after working hard. This will prevent
skin infections, dandruff acne, itching, and rashes.
 Brushing teeth every day especially before breakfast and before retiring to bed at night.
 Wearing shoes if hookworm is present.
 Teaching children to use sanitary latrines.
 Hanging of blankets, sheets and clothes often in the sun to help control bed bugs.
 Covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing and not spitting.
 Cleaning/sweeping/washing the house frequently.
 Filling in cracks and holes in the floor or walls to keep out cockroaches and other insects.
 Boiling water to kill most of the disease-causing organisms.
 Protecting food by keeping it in cabinets with wire screens or covering it to prevent flies
and other insects from contaminating it.
 Washing fruits before eating.
 Eating only well cooked meat.
 Avoiding food that looks or smells bad.
 Keeping separate dishes for those who are sick and boiling them before use.
 Having sick people sleep apart from other family members.
 Vaccinating all children for the seven immunizable diseases.
 Cutting fingernails frequently to keep them short.
 Treating persons with communicable diseases at the earliest.
 Completing a treatment plan advised by a doctor/nurse.
 Keeping wells and public water reservoirs clean.
 Not letting animals go near water that people use for drinking.
 Not defaecating, washing clothes or throwing garbage into a drinking water source.
 Burning all garbage that can be burned.
 Using sanitary latrines.

2. Improvement of sanitation .
Objective
To ensure that adequate and wholesome food, free from harmful ingredients
and contamination with pathogens, is available to the population.

Many communicable diseases are caused by poor personal hygiene and contamination of food.
An untidy household, dirty hands and poor environment create suitable conditions for growth of
bacteria and other disease-causing organisms, and food is often the transmission medium. The
education programme must concentrate on informing people on food safety habits and the need
to:
(a) Keep food refrigerated.
(b) Cover food to protect it from flies.
(c) Wash vegetables with clean, safe water.
(d) Wash hands with clean water and soap before preparing and eating food.
(e) Cook only sufficient food for one time meal.

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3. Ensuring safe drinking water.

Objective
To make safe drinking water accessible to the total population. Reduction of the
prevalence of diseases related to water supply such as diarrhoea, dysenteries,
etc,

The main drinking water sources in every village must be sampled for bacteriological
contamination once every three months. Identify the private wells which are being used to supply
tankers. These installations serve a lot of people and should therefore be inspected and
disinfected more frequently, preferably once a week. A standard 250 mL sterilised bottle should
be used. Record the following on the sample bottle:
(a) Location
(b) Time and date
(c) Name of sample
(d) Number of sample

The sample should be carefully packed in a cold box and sent to the nearest laboratory within 24
hours.
Follow-up
If a sample is found positive, a sanitary survey of the water supply must be carried out
immediately.

Corrective action should be taken to disinfect the well/water source and ensure protection.
Always take a bacteriological sample after completing the corrective action.
Water-storage tank
These should be inspected in the houses every week and cleared once in 3 months. The storage
tanks should be kept covered at all times.

Construction around the wells should be such that the usual water after washing, etc. would be
drained away from wells.

The community should be educated not to wash or bathe in falajs. They should draw water from
the falajs for domestic purposes to avoid contamination.

4.. Food quality control.

Objective
To make safe sanitation facilities available to the total population. Reduction
of the prevalence of diseases related to sanitation such as diarrhoea,
dysenteries, etc.

The effectiveness of solid waste pick-up and disposal activities being provided by the
Municipality should be monitored and evaluated periodically. Garbage should be collected at
least weekly and should be disposed of in an approved dump. The refuse should either be burned
or covered with earth and compacted each day. The citizens should store their garbage in plastic
bags in suitable covered containers. In the rural areas too, the community should be educated for
safe disposal of wastes/refuse.
Excreta Disposal
Continuous health education must be undertaken to convince the people to carefully dispose of
the excreta. Review the medical records and establish the occurrence of excreta-related diseases
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in the villages. Tell people how diseases are spread and how personal and community hygiene

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can interrupt the disease transmission. If the garden method is used, advise them to keep well
away from and below any drinking water source. You should advise/educate on the available
excreta disposal systems – mechanical system and ventilated improved latrines. Point out the
advantages of different options with regard to water use, efficiency, and cost. The community
should be motivated to construct appropriate sanitary latrines.

5. Vector control.
Objective
To control vectors to prevent the nuisance created by them and to prevent
disease transmittal by them by eliminating/ reducing them as far as practicable.

Effective vector control needs close co-operation and co-ordination between the health centre
staff, the Municipality and the people. The health centre staff should undertake surveillance and
health education activities. The municipality should implement actual control methods, such as
spraying, trapping, and use of pesticides. The people/community should keep their homes and
environment clean. It should be stressed that all households must co-operate for the vector
control programme to be effective.
Flies
Safe disposal of garbage/refuse will minimise the breeding of flies. Use of sanitary latrines or
burying of excreta will also control the flies. Remember that while filth encourages breeding, a
clean environment will deny them the places to breed.
Mosquitoes
Educate the people to eliminate cesspools, fill-up the depressions so that water does not collect.
Open wells should be covered. Encourage people to use wire screens on the doors and
windows to render the houses mosquito proof
Cockroaches
Keeping the houses clean, covering food articles in kitchens, dining rooms, etc. will deny the
cockroaches access to food and thus eliminate them. Garbage/refuse should be stored
properly.

Taken from:
“TOWARDS HEALTHY WILAYATS” by Dr M Jamil Khan, WHO Rep, WHO & MOH Oman, 1992

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Exercise 1
Read the ‘Introduction’ to the passage and answer the questions.

1. Name some living and non-living things and conditions which constitute the environment.
Bacteria and some decomposing fungi such as the Penicillium fungus are microorganisms that
cannot be seen with the naked eye.

2. What are the two main aims of Primary Health Care?

a. To prevent diseases related to unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation and low
standards of personal hygiene.

b. To improve the quality of life and health of the population by promoting personal
and community hygiene through self-reliance and community action.

3. What are the five factors in the environment that if neglected, could lead to disease?

a. Promotion of personal hygiene.

b. Improvement of sanitation which means an improvement of garbage/waste

collection and disposal, and a proper system of excreta disposal.

c. Ensuring safe drinking water supply by protecting water sources and surveying of
drinking water.

d. Food quality control.

e. Vector control.

4. Primary Health Care workers cannot promote environmental health on their own. They
need the help of two others. Who are they?
Environmental factors and suggesting appropriate measures.

5. What is the best way of making people aware of the importance of environmental health?
By education because is the best tool in influencing environmental health.

6. Read the activities relating to environmental health. Then look at the remaining sections of
the reading and write suitable headings for each section in the text and in the exercises.

Exercise 2
Read section 1 on the promotion of personal hygiene. and answer the following questions.

1. What are the levels at which changes can be brought about to improve environmental health?
The individual, family, and community levels.

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2. Discuss the level at which each of the activities that promote personal hygiene should
be dealt with. Next to each write whose responsibility it is.
An individual's behavior affects the family's health status and the family's resources and
behavior, affect the individual. Improving the environmental health status of the
individual and family will contribute to the improvement of the environmental health of
the community.

3. In the point: “Bathing at least once a day in a hot climate or after working hard. This will prevent
skin infections, dandruff acne, itching, and rashes.” What does ‘This’ refer to?
one of the providers needs to emphasize the following points that are relevant and
appropriate to the situation.

4. What does ‘them’ in “Keeping separate dishes for those who are sick and boiling them before use.” refer
to?
Keeping separate dishes for those who are sick and boiling them before use.

Exercise 3
Find answers to these questions after reading Section 2 about Improvement of sanitation .

1. What are the ways by which you can prevent food from becoming contaminated with micro-
organisms?

(a)Keep food refrigerated.

(b) Cover food to protect it from flies.
(c) Wash vegetables with clean, safe water.

2. What should you do to preserve the freshness of food and prevent it from spoiling?
*Wash hands with clean water and soap before preparing and eating food.
*Cook only sufficient food for one-time meal.

Exercise 4
Read Section 3 about Ensuring safe drinking water supply and write the answers to these
questions.

1. Name the three sources of water in a village, which need to be regularly monitored.
Wells, falajs, and water-storage tank.

2. In the home what can you do to ensure that your water supply is always clean?
Using water-storage tank and it should be covered all the time.

3. What should the community do to protect wells and falajs?

Construction around the wells should be such that the usual water after washing, etc. would be
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drained away from wells.

The community should be educated not to wash or bathe in falajs. They should draw water
from the falajs for domestic purposes to avoid contamination.

Exercise 5
Read Section 4 on the Food quality control and answer the following.

1. In this section find words which have the same meaning as the following.

garbage excreta.

solid wastes refuse.

2. What are the ways by which the PHC worker can educate the people about disposing wastes?

1- Review the medical records and establish the occurrence of excreta-related diseases in
the villages.

2-Tell people how diseases are spread and how personal and community hygiene
can interrupt the disease transmission.

3-If the garden method is used, advise them to keep well away from and below any
drinking water source.

4-Advise/educate on the available excreta disposal systems – mechanical system and

ventilated improved latrines.

5. Point out the advantages of different options with regard to water use, efficiency, and
cost.

Exercise 6
Read Section 5 on Vector control. and do this exercise.

Are the following statements True or False? Write T/F. If they are false, rewrite the
sentence correctly.

1. A vector is a vehicle which spreads disease. T

2. It is the health center staff’s job to maintain vector control. F, the municipality
should implement actual control methods.

3. The Municipality should use sprays and chemicals to kill insects. T

4. The Municipality should keep the houses and environment clean. F, the
people/community should keep their homes and
environment clean.
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5. A clean environment will help flies multiply in large numbers. F, clean environment
denies them the places to breed.

6. We shouldn’t drain all the standing water because mosquitoes like this. F, we should
drain all the standing water.

7. Cockroaches multiply in dirty surroundings and wherever there is food or

garbage. T

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Exercise 7
Complete this summary diagram.

A Healthy
Environment
depends on

Promotion of personal hygiene. Improvement of sanitation. Food quality control.

Ensuring safe drinking water supply. Vector control.

and results in
healthy

Community. Economy. Lives.

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