Special Session: Environmental Health Informatics
Environmental health has been definned by the WHO as those aspects of the human health and disease that are determined by factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing and controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect health.
These days a great emphasis is laid on topic of climate change. However, not enough importance is laid on the interaction of climate change and human health. Climate change may affect health through a range of pathways, for example as a result of increased frequency and intensity of heat waves, reduction in cold related deaths, increased floods and droughts, changes in the distribution of vector-borne diseases and effects on the risk of disasters and malnutrition. Models, data collection, data analysis are scientific instruments to forcast, analyse and descibe the situation and impact.
Environmental health aspects have many other foci apart from the hot topic of climate change. The need for computer science in these areas is evident. Hence environmental health informatics of high importance in this respect. That is why the session/workshop of environmental health informatics has been offered for many years on the EnviroInfo Conferences and will be organized this year in Cyprus.